(originally published May 12th, 2005)

Tonight could have been one of those nights that bring complaints for a long time. I was coming home from the downstate area of New York this evening. My car had started making a noise that it had made four weeks earlier, but the service department at the dealership assured me that there wasn’t anything wrong with the car. So I figured the noise would probably last long enough this time for me to get it back to the dealership and let them take another look at it.

I’m on the Tappan Zee Bridge on the way home, in the midst of a lot of traffic that’s moving pretty slow, and in my mind I said “I hope the car doesn’t stop on the bridge.” Just then, the car popped, and it stopped on the bridge, in one of the middle lanes. First thing I did was turn on the flashers, as the car still moved on its own impetus. Then I finally just stopped the car, after those behind me had a chance to move over. I tried to start the car again a couple of times, but knew it wasn’t happening.

I was relaxed, though, so I reached into my wallet, pulled out the AAA card, and dialed the number. At the same time the person answered the phone, a large truck pulled up behind me; what great service! These guys worked for the Thruway Authority, and they told me they basically cruise the bridge during rush hour, just in case things like this happen. It was literally two minutes after I had stopped my car; I know because I timed it (it’s what I do). In their own fashion, they pushed my car to a safe location, and called someone to tow me elsewhere. The second truck arrived in 4 minutes; I couldn’t believe my luck.

Basically, within 45 minutes I was back on my way home, my car at a dealership in that area, myself in a gold Kia something (I know nothing about cars), and all my stuff in the rental. However, the one thing that kept running through my mind was the first thing the tow truck driver asked me once we were both in his truck: “And how was your day?”

My answer was “Fine; it’s been a pretty good day.” Not an answer he was expecting, as I could tell by his face, but it really was. On the face of it, I could see how he’d think I would be upset; potential major car repair bill, many miles away from home, might not make it home if I couldn’t get a rental car quick enough and the cost of towing my car home would have been astronomical. He asked me where I’d learned to be so calm; I told him I wasn’t sure about that one, but all things considered, I was pretty lucky. At lunch, a friend suggested I should leave earlier than I had planned because of traffic in the area, and if I hadn’t listened a major sequence of events would have changed totally.

Instead, I was positive and had taken good advice. My car stopped in the middle of a great bridge, but no one jammed up behind me. I got help almost immediately, twice in less than 10 minutes. The dealership has to honor my warranty, and even if they didn’t, I have the money to pay for it, the rental car place was open another 20 minutes as I got there, and they had two cars left, one that was just great for me, and now I’m home, with my wife, in my house, with my health, and soon to be in my bed. What more could one want in life?

In T. Harv Eker’s book Secrets Of The Millionaire Mindicon (the link with the light blue line denotes an affiliate link if you’d like to check out the book) , he says that when you concentrate on being positive, positive things come into your life; if you concentrate on the negative, negative things come into your life. I don’t have to be shown more than once how true it is; what about you?