It's 9AM
Have you seen a red car, she asked.
Yes, I said.
You’re not doing it right.
Was I supposed to close my eyes? I said.
She sighed and settled into her seat.
We were on our way to a tourney in Conway, and she was checking work email on her phone.
It’s a riddle, she said.
What’s the red car riddle?
You’re supposed to say no, and then I offer to pay you $100 for every red car you notice.
I’d have a thousand bucks, I said. Maybe two.
There were a lot of red cars on the Interstate.
Trucks, sedans and coupes, though I could only tell you how many carried more than one person.
That’s what the riddle is, she said. It’s about opportunity.
I nodded.
We trained on it before, back in my “just in corporate” days.
Except the car was blue.
The gist of it was, opportunity is everywhere if you look for it.
And I like that frame of mind.
I told her so.
But…
Her red car riddle was from a VP talking about looking for ways to save revenue while enhancing the patient experience.
Cost overruns, equipment costs, 90 Day billing cycles and slow pay insurers were cutting into the ability to provide exceptional care.
I get it.
Got it.
And told her so.
Then asked how many blue cars she had seen on the way so far.
She looked at me.
I said red, she told me. I’ve seen three.
But blue?
She glanced out of the window ahead of us.
Not a blue car in sight.
And shared the rub of being hyper focused and aware.
None, she answered.
Even though we just passed one and two had gone by on the other side of the four lane.
How many white? She shot back.
How many silver, #10 piped up from the back.
I didn’t even know he was paying attention.
Silver is the hardest to count, I said, because they blend into the background.
Which for some reason is a weird sort of truth. Dull silver grey cars are one of those things our brain just moves over for some reason.
We notice it, then keep scanning.
I guess gray isn’t much of a threat.
But I stopped talking there and she went back to her email and he ducked back into baseball highlights on a Youtube channel.
Always a student of the game.
Because I could go into watching surroundings and always being aware.
Or I could talk about opportunity at every angle if you only pay attention.
But really, who wants an early morning lecture on a ride to the ball field?
Can’t a lesson wait a moment?
The solution to the red/white and blue car dilemma being;
If you train your brain to look for something, that’s how it’s going to work.
Look for joy, and you’ll find it.
Look for smiles, you’ll find those too.
Look for threats and problems, well, those are just about everywhere and one of those star spangled auto’s could careen across the median at any moment.
I know, because my favorite sportscaster Paul Eells was driving home from a Razorback game, had a heart attack and did just that.
Smashed head on in a collusion he didn’t live long enough to see.
A threat from within and turned into one on the out.
But…
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If you are looking and paying attention and ready…
For cars and opportunities and chances
For smiles and perfect pitches
Then you will see more of them.
And that’s just doing it right.
The Dipole Collection box set
Battlefield Z Complete Collection
The Shadowboxer Files boxset
Epic Sci-Fi & Fantasy group promo
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