Take The Spanners That Get Chucked At You And Use Them To Build .

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The 1st trace of How To Get A Bag is "Sometimes in life, things get a bit shit."

And sometimes they do, and it`s how you react that defines you, at least temporarily.

Seven years ago, I was juggling several deadlines. Some had already been missed. I`d let somebody down. More milestones were looming and important.

"That`s OK, though, I get the repose of the week," I said. "Let`s get cracking."

Then, for various urgent reasons, I had to get on a trajectory to Brussels, to pluck up a car, and get it cover to Malta, a round trip of 3000 miles.

When I got to Brussels, the car battery was flat. Not a vast deal, but an inconvenience. That, and a niggling hangover, delayed my part by 4 hours.

I drove from Belgium to France, where I stopped the dark in Strasbourg. Then I drove to Lake Como in Italy, stopping for less than ten minutes in Switzerland, which cost me 60 euros, making Switzerland officially the most expensive land in the world.

The following day, I drove to Livorno, in Tuscany.

I got onto a ferry, my family for the next 36 hours.

I had my credit cards, and no cash. I couldn`t use my credit cards onboard.

On Monday morning, at 7 o`clock, I arrived in Malta.

The day was spent at a family funeral.

This morning, I was second at my desk when my wife called on the phone an hour ago, with the word that she had been standing directly in presence of a chemical factory as it exploded.

And now here we are, a week later, and nothing done.

***

Lachlan Cotter wrote a moving and inspiring article at his blog, the Art Of Audacity: How To Shift Your Entire Life Overnight. Read it.

He reframes each "massive failure" he`s experienced as a massive opportunity, or at least a "that wasn`t so bad" moment.

***

A late departure from Brussels meant dinner of foie gras and pork cheeks in Strasbourg, at the foundation of a cathedral, and a night spent eating freshwater fish risotto overlooking Lake Como.

A want of cash on a boat meant I required to have friends quickly.

My wife is fine, if shaken.

Nothing good happened as a consequence of the premature demise of an adored family member. But the funeral was fit for a rock-star. The church couldn`t stop the mourners, who flowed over into the street. Pink Floyd was on the stereo. The priest cried during the eulogy, setting off the whole church.

There was a lot of love.

***

I`m not sure there`s any spot to this post, really. Other than, perhaps, that if you can see the spanners that get thrown at you, you can have them useful.

Get back on your horse, cowboy. Ride on.

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