Life Lessons...... Kindly brought to you by Ford.

My Mamacita is fond of saying that the "Good Lord teaches us in mysterious ways."  Sometimes the lessons themselves are not as mysterious as the teachers who deliver the lesson.  Whoever would have thought that I would learn a major life lesson and a lot about myself from my Ranger, of all things.  

Curious?   Wondering what in the world the "Ah Ha" moment was?  Well aren't you lucky that I am in a giving mood tonight and won't keep you in suspense. The lesson was.......

  

"There are plenty of fish in the sea. "  

Now I know that you are probably thinking.... "Hello,  old news sista."  and that is so very true, but for me it was like a splash of cold water and has really made me start thinking about relationships or lack there of.

Confused?  

Good!  Now that you are questioning my sanity, your intrigue will spur you to read on.

For this all to make sense you have to know a little about me.  I am what you might call chronically single, for lack of a better term.  Now don't get all bleeding heart on me.  It is something that I have come to terms with and besides my "condition" provides me with a lot of time to pursue interests.  Normal things like reading, running, skiing and international espionage (caught that, glad to see your paying attention).   Besides, being spared relationship drama has done wonders in maintaining my youthful appearance...  I am really 65 years old!  Truly amazing isn't it!  

If you have never experienced chronic singledom,  you don't know that an amazing thing happens around year 6, or was that 7, I forget.  After years of looking for potential relationships around every corner and with every new person you meet, you just stop looking.  You become content in the one relationship you do have control over....  the one with yourself.   So although you meet people,  you don't expect anything because hey, your in a committed relationship already.  

Don't get me wrong, a relationship with yourself is not all roses and garden tea parties.  There are times when you don't like yourself, you feel your not good enough and your ready to throw in the towel and look for a new relationship.  This coincidentally usually occurs after visits home, when you have to face the firing squad of questions from your relatives, or, the weeks proceeding and following attendance at weddings.  But there is a silver lining.  As the years pass, family members give up asking and there have been amazing technological advances in pharmaceuticals to address "Weddingitis" (Kidding!).  

So, by the time you hit year 14, 15..... or say 20; singledom is old hat, something you are good. It also doesn't hurt that it feels as comfortable as your favorite pair of PJ bottoms.    This type of comfort is exactly what I have with the Ranger.  After 14 years of living together, I can tell just by the sound of the engine or the feel of the steering when Lil' Dude needed to visit the Truck Doctor.  Although my head occasionally turns to notice a random Sport Trac,  Titan, VW Bug or Jeep YJ, I have never taken it any further, as hey, I am happy in my current vehicle relationship.

The recent mechanical failings of the truck and the overwhelming number of choices that are available to look at and explore is what reawakened my interest in looking for a relationship outside of myself.  It also opened my eyes to the amazing similarity between dating, relationships and vehicle shopping.  The one benefit of shopping for a vehicle vs looking for a relationship is it is normally frowned upon to start searching for a new relationship when the old one is failing; but is highly encouraged and socially supported when your vehicle relationship is on the rocks.  

Will Max find the vehicle or man of her dreams?  

Tune in next time.

Same Ranger time, 

Same Ranger station.