Looking back at my time in New York: Brooklyn, Oneonta, Syracuse & Massachusetts: Easthampton and Framingham, I never needed any help when it came to getting my car going in the snow. I never got stuck in a ditch or could not shovel a little bit and be on my way. I don’t know if there is something in the air that is making the snow extra stubborn so I can’t just drive through it, but something has changed in the past two seasons. Read my two cases and I’ll let you be the judge.
Winter 2007-08
My wife came home and left the car on the side of the road so I can park it since the driveway was filled with snow. I took a look at the driveway filled with snow and I look at our Audi. I looked at the snow and looked at the Audi again. “I can reverse through this snow without any problem.” Wrong! I gave myself a little bit of room so I could build momentum as I hit the snow in the driveway, but halfway through I got stuck. I tried moving forward, “I can’t.” I tried moving backwards, “I can’t.” I decided to get out and shovel around the car so I could get out of the driveway and park the car on the side of the road until the plow could clear our driveway. After shoveling for a couple of minutes I jumped in the car and tried to move forward; it didn’t work. I tried to move backwards it didn’t work either. After repeating the cycle of shovel, try to move forward, try to move backward a few times, my neighbor comes out and gave me a hand. As I hit the accelerator she watched to see which wheel(s) was keeping the car stuck. After the initial assessment, she went away and came back with Kitty Litter. She put a handful of the Kitty Litter in front of the tire that was stuck, I hit the accelerator and I was out of harms way. I will leave out the fact that I went from being stuck in one stop to being stuck in a ditch as I tried to park on the side of the road. I won’t tell you I went through the same procedure cycle of shovel, trying to move forward, trying to move backward, until another neighbor saw my struggle and came to my aid.
Winter 2008-09
Snow storm conditions existed, but I had to go to work in the evening. I get to my destination with only a couple of “fish tail” moments. I’m on the site and instructed to park in a lower parking lot. I see several vehicles trying to leave so I avoid them by taking a longer path around to get to my final destination. As I make my last turn and start to head straight I find that I am stuck in what seems like a bank of snow. I try to move forward, “no luck”; I try moving backwards, “no luck.” I ask a couple of good Samaritans for assistance by giving me a push but that didn’t work. We grab someone from the plow crew who brings a plow with a special brush attachment used to remove snow without damaging vehicles. That did not work either. The one thing we could not find is a shovel. As I rack my brain and look around I notice that there are thin metal poles with orange caps on the top so cars know there is a curb in that location. I start to think the worst, “did I just jump a curb and run right over one of these thin poles?” I decided to leave the car right where it was and headed into work where I could find someone with a shovel. After taking care of a couple of things I announced to a group of my peers that I had a special team building activity for us called, “Get Bruny’s car out of the snow.” We headed out with shovel in hand and after clearing the path for the tires, I was freed from my snow bondage. It turns out with the lack of visibility I jumped the curb and ran over one of the thin green poles with the orange caps. The pole was easily bent back to its original upright position and there wasn’t any damage to my car.
What you can learn from my snow adventures:
• We can all use a little help now and again. It didn’t matter how strong I was when I was stuck in the snow, I couldn’t have my foot on the accelerator and push the car at the same time. Sometimes we have to humble ourselves and accept the help of others.
• Do you see what I see? Sometimes having an additional person in a situation allows you to get a different perspective on the situation. From the driver’s seat, I could not see which wheel was in need of attention.
• The right tool for the job: Despite the fact that I had the assistance of people of push the car and a snow plow with the special brush attachment, I was still stuck. Sometimes the problems / challenges we face can be solved with the simplest of tools. In this case that tool was a shovel.
Where have you been resistant to accepting the assistance of someone else?
What have you been wrestling with all by yourself?
Where are the opportunities to replace overly sophisticated methods with simply ones?
Someone else’s assistance may be just what you need to take things to the next level in 2009.
Accept the help if it’s being given, ask for it if you need it, and keep it simple.
Run the Point,
Mike "Ambassador Bruny"
Professional Coach, Speaker, Author
Run the Point Enterprises
Ambassador to your highest vision
www.runthepoint.com
Author of: "Move the Crowd: 30 Days of Hip Hop Affirmations To Change Your Life." www.runthepoint.com/products or www.authorhouse.com
Check out how the lyrics of Hip Hop Artist can help you with such topics as: Winning, Time Management, Vision, Faith, Support, Decision Making and Living a more fulfilling life. Email me at Bruny@runthepoint.com for a free 3 Day Sampler.
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