Fix it yourself.
A week or so ago, I came out of the supermarket with my partner and looked around for my car where I thought I’d parked it. I didn’t recognise any of the cars there, except for the white corolla with the smashed headlight and bent bonnet. I thought it was weird to see a smashed up car that looked so much like mine.
As I got closer, I realised it was mine.There was no note on the windshield and following a little investigation, no witnesses and no CCTV. I was pissed.
Thankfully, my partner was with me and so that forced me to regulate my emotional response. I am 100% sure if they hadn’t been with me, I would have had steam coming from my ears. I’m grateful to have dealt with things calmly.
The entire headlight and bulb were smashed, bonnet warped and unable to close, front grill connectors broken and some of the metal frame of the car was out of place. I thought that they must have hit my car at quite a speed to have caused that kind of damage. I wish it hadn’t happened, but here we were, I thought.
I have never been the kind of girl who fixes cars or gets her hands really dirty solving these kind of problems, despite wanting to be that kind of girl. I’ve never needed to be.
I have literally no money to spend on a mechanic but I needed working headlights if I wanted to be able to use my car at night, which, I did, obviously. I had to fix it myself.
I visited a few wreckers and found the best price for the spare part I needed and purchased a couple of globes to replace the ones that were broken or missing. I had a few tools in the back of my car that I’d purchased for this kind of thing.
Replacing the light was easy but still a huge achievement. It was surprising how simple it was to fix and how long I had avoided working on my car in this way just because I had this idea that it would be too hard or I’m not that kind of girl or I don’t have the skills to do that.
What would be the worst thing if I tried and couldn’t do it? Nothing happens? Just like if I’d not tried in the first place?
I’m learning more and more that my brain is a pretty scared thing and I need not listen to it too intently, too often. I can be that kind of girl, if I really want to be. I want to be.
