Last Wednesday, I was in a car accident. At the time, I was upset, but I had all of my limbs and no blood seeping from any newly created holes. I was okay. Sadly, my Jeep was not. The gentleman behind me hit me into the car in front of me which meant that I was the sandwich in this mass of metal. The other two drivers drove off and went home while I stayed and waited for the tow truck service to take my beloved Jeep to the auto body shop. I knew she was totaled.

On Friday, I went to the shop to get the last few things from my vehicle. The gal that did the estimates on the damage told me that after seeing my Jeep, she was surprised that I wasn’t more shaken up and that I had walked away with no bodily injuries. My Jeep had done its job. It protected me despite the buckling of the entire frame. The doors on the passenger’s side wouldn’t open. None of the doors closed corruptly. The bench seat in the back was shoved forward. Glass from the back window littered the entire cabin. Then there was the front of the Jeep where the bumper was toast, the hood was missing a few small chunks, and my Jeep literally looked like it was bleeding bodily fluids.

I have a new appreciation for Jeeps. I had a ’99 Jeep Cherokee, and I loved it so much that I didn’t even flinch at the laughable gas mileage. Today, I love my Jeep even more.

I also have another new appreciation, but I’ll need to explain a little background first. For the last nine months I have been looking for jobs. I am three classes shy of a second master’s degree, yet I only pulled in 27,000 last year. It’s been extremely disheartening to send in resumes only to find out I didn’t even get an interview. Because of this, I’ve been so depressed and sometimes a little angry. I guess I’ll have to give credit to the accident for my change in attitude, but my thought process this week has simply been that I am the one responsible for how I feel, act, and think. I can continue being upset by all of this or I can just remind myself that there is a job for me, and I’ll be happy when we’re paired up. There are so many things in this life that I can be grateful for, so I should be and I will be. Today is a new day, after all.