Itsy Bitsy Spider

On my way work one day this week, I climbed into my truck preparing to back out of the driveway. As I checked my side mirrors I noticed a little spider on the passenger side mirror trying desperately to climb off. For anyone that knows me well, there are three things I don't interact with. I do not like Spiders, snakes or mice/ rats. This spider being one of the three was on his or her own in finding a way off the truck. I figured if it didn't make its way down, once I reached cruising speed of 70 mph it would fly like it never had before. Maybe in its last seconds on earth it would be an adrenaline rush. The last few seconds just flying at what must be like the speed for a little spider. Maybe in some way I was helping the spider fulfill something on its bucket list. I'm not real sure how Spiders think but it could have been a possibility.  So now I am cruising through a neighborhood at 35 mph.  This spider is a trooper. He or she is under duress as the wind force is shaking as it scurries trying to find safety. I am thinking little spider you ain't seen nothing yet. We are fixing to hit the highway and you will be airborne in just a few. I hope you brought a helmet. So as we hit the highway the spider crawls up to the plastic housing surrounding the mirror. It's in a place where there is virtually no wind force to blow it down the road. That spider rode from the Westside of Fort Worth to South Dallas. This is about a 45 minute trip. Kudos spider I have driven you farther than you could walk in a lifetime. When I got out of the truck I left the spider right where he was because in a weird way he or she earned my respect. Now comes the hard part of readjusting to a new way of life for this spider. It in an unfamiliar place with new obstacles to conquer.
      As I got to thinking about this very minor event for me but probably momentous for this spider this thought came to me. Isn't life for us a lot like this spider's crazy ride? We are traveling down life's highway at what seems like breakneck speed with no idea where we are headed. Like this little spider we have traveled so far that we could not get back to where we were if we had three lifetimes. Every day is an exercise in overcoming new obstacles. Many of these said obstacles are things that we arbitrarily place in our path throughout our years of travel. We do this because we think that we will never have to go over the obstacle, but there it is waiting on us. Some of the obstacles we face are from situations arising in which we have no control.  Most animals are created with the basic instinct of survival. This means they don't concern themselves with the past they are constantly looking forward. The spider wasn't concerned about getting back to where it was it was only concerned about moving forward in survival mode. We can't concern ourselves with looking back at yesterday or 20 years ago trying to change the past or regretting past mistakes. We can learn from them, making our future a better place to be in.  Just like the spider had no say in where he was going, we living life experience the same daily. We might not know exactly where life is going to take because there are so many unplanned or predicted twists and turns. We can make the most of where we are. We can climb down off of the mirror and clean out our 8 legged pair of pants because sometimes life is scary and at times its a harrowing ride. Then once again there are those simple moments when you feel the love of friends and family and thank God for giving you another day. Those exhilarating days are what makes life worth pushing on down the road for another mile or two.
   The truth is that spider could have bailed anytime but chose not to. Jumping from the truck at that speed would have been certain death. It chose to hang on and see where the ride was taking it.  The spider's family and friends were a memory and now the spider moves on to the big city. Brighter days hopefully with new opportunities and memories.  Maybe and more than likely this spider had no idea what transpired a few days ago. There is a slim chance it used its little spider Mobile phone and called it's friends and family and said I am finally taking that trip I talked about to find myself.  It never takes long to find yourself in Dallas and it might be ready to come home soon. If you find yourself in Dallas and see a spider with eight thumbs up in the wind trying to hitch a ride back to Fort Worth pull over and give him or her a mirror to ride back on.
  Enjoy the ride.
Kenney"Bigskinny Pope"
7/16/2016