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The following story was from something that happened to me a few weeks ago as I was driving from Utah to California. I had written out the experience but with shoulder injuries and other projects going on during my time here, I had forgotten to post it. Enjoy :)
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
The quote comes from Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist, a book that deeply moved me a couple of years ago. This particular concept has been becoming more and more apparent in my life the better I’ve gotten at shamelessly going after things I truly want. A couple days ago I experienced one of the weirdest examples of the universe conspiring to help me, in a small town called Wells, NV.
I woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning in Wendover, Utah, a small, quirky gambling town with more casinos than grocery stores. I stopped at a local Jiffy Lube to get an oil change prior to heading out to California for a 3 week stretch of tournaments. Excited to get back on the road, I grabbed my keys from the technician and quickly sped onto the highway. I was ecstatic to finally get to see California and spend my time there doing exactly what I wanted to do. Life could not get any better.
Until I realized I was too ecstatic to remember to fill up my gas tank.
After driving through the seemingly endless mountains for about 45 minutes, I caught a glimpse of my fuel gauge. It was empty, and it was clear I had been driving 85 mph on an empty tank for way too long. Even worse, the last town I saw was Wendover, 45 minutes behind me. I began to panic and belittle myself for being so foolish. Trying to stay calm, I pulled over and began to look up gas stations near me on my phone. Nothing popped up.
I was certain that I was screwed. With that said, that was precisely when the universe decided to conspire to help me. I could almost say I felt something whisper in my ear "You got a little too excited. Here's a freebie."
Out of complete desperation, I yelled out to an older man about 100 feet from me who was just about to slam the door on his truck and get back on the road. He stepped out of his truck upon hearing my voice and let me speak. I asked if he knew of any nearby gas stations. To my surprise he instantly responded with “Head about 5 miles down the highway and you’ll be all set.” He hopped back in his truck and sped off. I was shocked, nothing about that had shown up on my phone. At that point I didn’t even have cell service. I had to trust him. I threw my hazards on and coasted down the weirdly convenient downhill highway at about 30 mph, praying that the man wasn’t just messing with me. After about 10 minutes of getting passed up my every car on the highway, I saw signs for a town called Wells. I slowly rolled into town and began laughing out loud. Not only was there a gas station, there were TONS of gas stations. The whole town was essentially a tiny gas station oasis. I got goose bumps while I filled up my tank after realizing how truly bizarre this morning’s series of events had been.
Even a year ago I would’ve never said anything to that man. On top of that, the man very easily could have been a tourist with no knowledge of that particular stretch of highway. I had passed up numerous opportunities to take U-turns in favor of pulling over by that man. Had I panicked and taken one of those U-Turns I would've surely ran out of fuel. I don’t think he’ll ever realize how much he helped me that day.
After all that, I made it to California. It’s beautiful here.
Life is good.