About mid-September or so, my truck basically died on me. And not just died, it blew up- in this case the engine literally blew up. And so for the last couple of months I've been carpooling and bicycling around. Since where I live it rains 9+ months out of the year, biking around isn't very... safe. Over the Christmas holiday one of my uncles donated a rebuilt engine to me. Thus beginning my journey into the mechanic realm.
I've never really had an interest in cars, much less an interest working on vehicles. My mechanical knowledge stopped at hammer, nails, screw driver (Flathead and Philips) and how to pay a real mechanic. My cousin Matt told me he would help me remove the old engine and put in the rebuilt engine. He said in no uncertain terms, "I will direct you on what to do, but it will be YOU fixing your truck, not me. You in?" Due to the fact that I couldn't pay to have someone else do the work, I agreed to his terms. On first week of January I piled on my warmest clothes and put my first pair of coveralls on. (Note: when working on cars, it's helpful to keep all hair out of your face and securely pulled back.)
Since that first week I've not only learned how to change my oil and other liquids, but I've also learned persuasion can be another name for using a giant metal bar to force something into the right spot and that the same metal bar can be VERY useful for retrieving fallen tools when magnets are attached to its end. But there is something far more important that I have learned through the course of my experience. The importance, nay, the vital difference it makes in having positive influences in my life.
Matt, in accordance with our agreement, has been instructing me through this whole process. He stands by and tells me what to do, answers questions (only after I've exhausted my own resources) and makes sure safety precautions are observed. The only things he has physically helped do have been removing two wires, guiding the engine into the truck based on my directions and doing some minor welding. Everything else he has made me do. Basically he's been an amazing mechanics teacher. However Matt is a pessimist. If something is wrong he always goes to the worst conclusion. At one point he had me absolutely convinced my two weeks worth of work and $300+ I put into the truck was for nothing. I went home and cried the whole day because it had been so stressful, exhausting, challenging and then, it appeared, completely hopeless. I wanted to burn my truck, then curl up and disappear for a while. And that is what extreme pessimism can do. It can bring a person down and hard, it derails hope and steals joy.
My uncle, whom gave me the new(er) engine and has been allowing me to work in his shop, is the exact opposite of Matt. My uncle is the ultimate optimist. If something is wrong, it's probably nothing serious and can be managed in little to no time with hardly any effort. Because of my uncle's positive outlook he had a friend come and test the engine after hearing Matt's doom's day diagnosis. Through the testing process they discovered the problem really was minimal, in fact only some rusted out freezer plugs (they keep the engine from splitting due to freezing temperatures). To replace the plugs it would cost only $2 a piece and an extra week's worth of work due to removing the engine again. What a vast difference his news was!
Where Matt's pessimism brought gloom and depression, my uncle's optimism brought hope and life. Matt claims that by keeping his expectations low he won't be disappointed, but I've been coming to realize that it also keeps him for shooting for his dreams and goals. The pessimist view tends to suck the joy out of the day-to-day. I am INCREDIBLY thankful for my uncle's optimism because it gives me hope that the work I've been doing hasn't been just for learning's sake and that my truck may once again run. I've also learned that having positive people around makes all of the difference. Since hearing my uncle's new concerning my truck, the stress has gone dramatically down. I had dreaded going to work on my truck before and now I can enjoy it a little, knowing there are always to sides to the situation and more often than not, even three. There are the extremes and then there is what actually is.
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