Somewhere during the almost 300 mile drive back to DFW between the telephone call warning me to watch out for inclement weather and the drunk guy in the F150 I thought about a conversation from a decade ago.
Thought about conversations, dreams, hopes and expectations and decided some things are in play, unexpected and surprising yet not at all.
Because 10 years later it is easy to look at all the twists and turns and believe there is no reason for some things to be in position now.
No reason to expect or dream of certain opportunities yet just when there seemed to be no reason to look that way life threw that hanging curveball and here we are.
So there will be a reckoning, an accounting and a conversation about it, probably sooner than later because you can only have so many things happen before you look up at the sky and scream, “I hear you.”
The Rental Car
Wasn’t a big fan of the rental car I drove to Houston but it is a rental so I didn’t get crazy about it. Sometimes I love what I get and sometimes I am grateful it is just a rental.
There were some nasty thunderstorms on the way down and there were several moments it came down so hard it was hard to see.
Most of the time I’ll pull over and wait it out because I have no reason to push hard, especially when so many of the drivers around me drive like they are wearing a bucket on their head.
But this time it wasn’t possible to pull over because there was no safe place to do so. Turned on my hazards, slowed down and kept my eyes open.
Saw a big rig have some issues and muttered I hope that sucker isn’t named the Edmund Fitzgerald because he is too damn close to me.
After an hour that felt like three the weather passed and I made it to the hotel, checked in and then headed out to one of the few Jewish delis in the state.
Sat down, ordered a meal and listened to the crowd around me thinking about how I was among my people.
Don’t think I knew anyone in there though I wouldn’t have been surprised if I did and laughed because I recognized the expressions and conversations.
Instead of listening to people go on about Easter I heard groups talk about whether they were having a seder or going to one.
They talked about food, memories and stuff that I heard all the time in LA, but with much less frequency here.
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Grabbed dinner with a cousin I haven’t seen in years and had a great time catching up. Laughed when I hugged her hello because I forgot she is my height.
It reminded me of a conversation I had with my daughter a few years ago about how her great-grandmother was a good three or four inches taller than her.
She asked me what happened and I said my grandmother was taller than both of her daughters.
“Life is funny that way, genetics are something you don’t have all that much control over.”
I Don’t Give Up Easily
A colleague asked me how I went from the bottom of the pack to the top. It was in reference to a specific set of metrics and so I waved him to come closer so that I could whisper my secret.
“I don’t give up easily.”
He pulled back, cocked his head to the side and asked if I was screwing with him.
“No, ask my kids what I tell them. They’ll say ‘fight through it’ or some variation of that. My oldest will tell you I am tenacious and that I keep pushing. He’ll tell you I get very quiet and stop speaking and that he knows I am up to something.”
My colleague asked, what does up to something mean and I smiled.
“The younger Mr. Wilner says it is terrifying when I get that quiet because you never know what I am going to come up with. I tell him terrifying is a crazy word to use. He qualifies it by saying he isn’t scared of me, but that he is just surprised that I keep coming up with stuff.”
The funny thing to me is I think he is far more clever in multiple areas than I am. But I am good at fighting through whatever is placed in front of me.
During these moments you might hear me curse up a storm because I am irritated about having to “fight through stupidity.”
I really don’t understand why some things have to be so damn hard but I just keep going. Can’t say it is true for everything because there are things I walk away from, there are are battles I let go of because I don’t have the desire or energy to push through.
But if it falls into that category of being an itch I have to scratch, a question I have to get answered or a gut feeling that if I walk away I will be unhappy I will keep going.
Desire and the will to keep fighting are fifty percent of the recipe for success in many things. Don’t always have to be smarter or more talented but you have to be willing to work for it.
That is how the best stories work.
“Once upon a time a person found themselves up against it and they kept working until they got to the other side of it.
