So today I had planned to change the brakes on my truck.. they started making some noise last week.  I got the break pads, had all my tools laid out.. and found out that I had lost the key for the locking lug nuts on my wheels.. thereby making the job impossible to do.  Everything else was ready to go, except one, and it kept everything else from happening... plans made, plans ruined, all because of just one thing...

It's scary how often just one thing can change everything... one word spoken.. one word forgotten..  How many times has your life turned based on just one thing?

When I was in Alaska, I was involved in a relationship that fell apart over one phone call.  How many nights I laid awake wishing I could take it back... but I couldn't .. and never was able to fix it.  My plans to live in Alaska were definitely affected by that.. well.. that and all the fricking snow.. but I probably could have endured that.. all but just for one thing...

I've often read stories where I thought the plot was overly simplified because everything hinged on the hero discovering just one thing.. but then again, maybe that's more similar to life that I've realized before.

I read a great book called The Hinge Factor years ago.  It gave examples of how many times history has changed due to one small twist of fate or chance.  If the path of nations can be changed by something as simple as one bullet... can our lives be so different?  Can they be changed by one word?

I think they can.. if we let them. It all comes down to how we react.  If we give people a second chance.. I think we might be surprised how many times we can get past something that seems insurmountable.  On  the other hand, if we're ready to crucify a relationship, a friend, an idea, over just one word.. then maybe we're getting exactly what we deserve... Maybe I'm better off not being in Alaska...

So tomorrow I'll go to the Nissan dealer, I'll get my lug nut key, and I'll fix my breaks.  All I will have lost is an afternoon.. although the thought of losing time bothers me more and more the older I get.  Still... it's fixable.

Would be much worse to lose another dream over just one thing...