HELLO GORGEOUS. IS IT TIME TO REDEFINE WHAT LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST MEANS?
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·1 min read

Would you kill the squirrel?

Hectic morning. Making kids school lunches, filling water bottles. Finding socks and hats. Helping with the zipper that doesn’t want to work. Turning off lights before running out of the door to take kids to school. When I drive off our driveway I am already thinking my long to-do list for today, and my mind is wandering here in my blog, and I’m thinking how I live life to the fullest, and how I am going to share it with you today. I know being a work at home mom, and being able to take kids to school every morning is a luxury to me that I wouldn’t give up for anything. But on mornings like this, feels like this is everything but living life to the fullest. I see a squirrel running on the road getting ready to be squashed under my car tire, and think even if I’m not living life to the fullest right at this moment, at least I can let that squirrel live. I turn my wheel and the little animal is saved, but at the same time I hit the curb and hear a pop. Dammit, that was one expensive pet squirrel that I never see again, and I guess I will be working from home with three kids today, because there is no way I’m going to start changing a car tire on the side of the road with three kids and a dog. I don’t think my husband’s morning was any better, especially when I deliver him the news. He shouts something not at all like him “you kill the squirrel, not the tire” – he never gets mad, and is an animal lover, so I think it’s better to just hang up on him. I understand. I was stupid. Both, hitting the curb and hanging up on him. But like I am not already blaming myself! I come home with kids, tell them they can play at home today. I think there is supposed to be a lesson learned by this story. Maybe it is that sometimes doing the right thing is the wrong thing to do. Maybe it is that doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do. Maybe it is just understanding that life always isn’t champagne and caviar, and understanding that even if it isn’t, there is beauty even on the mornings when your tire breaks, and you are forced to slow down.
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Katja Presnal
Katja Presnal shows how to live Nordic inspired life to the fullest and plan your dream life. Katja owns Presnal5 strategic marketing intelligence agency and wants to help marketing professionals to combine a dream career and dream life via freelance work. Katja is an award-winning marketing strategist, and a well-known speaker. Katja has lived in five different countries, and seven states in the USA. Her three children were all born in different countries within three years. When not working or jet-setting the world, Katja is at home cooking big family dinners. She has been featured in NY Times, Glamour, Redbook, Fodor's, Forbes and Woman's Day magazines among many other national and international publications and written for MTV3 and Lifetime TV networks.
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11 Comments

  1. Aw, rough start to the day! But as you know, there are worse things in life than busted tires, even though it’s such a PITA. Hopefully this means the rest of last week was smooth sailing.

    Reply

  2. I believe that things were meant to be. Maybe the fact that I turned around and came home prevented us from being in a car accident, maybe one of my kids would have gotten hurt at school that day. When there are bumps in the road I always have to be thankful that they are not bigger bumps and be thankful for the small ones.

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  3. While my boys are long gone, I do remember many a morning not unlike yours when I wished I could have slept in a bit longer or have been able to go right to work instead of squiring my two sons to school. As a single, working (outside the home) mom, squirrels, in my priority list – for sure – would come in dead last.

    So don’t feel badly, sh*t still happens in a “Life After Kids!” I still encounter hectic mornings filled with clothes that don’t fit or jackets is missing a button, or too many dogs to be fed and errant makeup bags gone missing.

    Even without kids in the back seat, I found myself distracted by thoughts racing around the speedway of my mind, planning and replaying the of too many things I needed to do in the day that lie ahead. And then there’s that damn squirrel. Mine, in the odd form of sharp curb. Pop! Hiss! My day was derailed in an instant

    Okay, it could have been worse. A whole lot worse but when money has been tighter than “insert favorite metaphor here” – having to purchase brand new tire is just as bad as having totalled your car.
    So now my stress level is beyond red alert as I navigate a difficult u-turn and hobble my car back to my driveway. I rip the key out of its lock and hobble my broken spirit back into my home.

    Once firmly ensconced in the calm oasis of my bedroom, I strip off my clothes and get back in bed and realize that was exactly where I needed to be. And I, like the squirrel, got a reprieve…the universe intervened when I ignored my body’s signals to shut down and recharge.

    Was what happened for the better? or for worse? Will I really know if I missed a big opportunity because I didn’t go out to another event? I am not worried because I truly believe life always hands us what we need, when we need it and we must always be ready to embrace that gift, no matter what form it takes and say,” Thank You!”

    (Thank you for your beautiful post and for inspiring me xo)

    Reply

  4. I’ve always been told that if an animal runs out in front of you to just hit the animal rather than try to miss it and run off the road, hit another car, or injure someone in the process. I’m not saying I would feel good about it (because I wouldn’t) but I’d rather hit the animal rather than hurt someone. I had a bird fly into my radiator one time on the highway out of no where and I was mortified but there was nothing that could be done, it came at me so fast without a warning. I’ve heard of people trying to miss deer even and wreck their cars and kill them and/or passengers so I don’t want to chance it.

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  5. I hate those things…squirrels. I was attacked by two squirrels at the grand canyon. They wanted my PB&J sandwich and were NOT scared at me at all. They screeched and lunged toward me and I was so freaked out I dropped my sandwich. I swear they laughed and ran away with it. Every since then, I try to run them over when I see them. But I never can.

    Okay, in all seriousness, I think squirrels are suicidal. My husband works at the top of a big hill and those little rabies infested rats dive out in front of his car all the time. And at my moms house, there is a squirrel that lives in the tree and comes out and taunts me. One of these days I’m going to invest my money in a BB gun and shoot him off the wire.

    I love all God’s creatures EXCEPT squirrels.

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  7. You did exactly what I would do and have done many times. It breaks my heart to see so many dead animals on the road. For me, a flat tire is worth one little squirrel’s life.

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  8. Sorry to say, I would. Several years, I got into a major accident trying to avoid hitting a cat and it was over $4,000 in damages on my car & the fear of having someone hurt, like my kids. It was horrible and very scary. I think a human’s life is much more valuable than a squirrel’s life. I don’t want to seem like I am not an animal lover because I am; I have a cat & a dog. I hope people will understand where I’m coming from. I hope everyone was ok.

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  9. I am totally convinced that squirrels are trying to take over the world because they invade my home and they throw acorns at my car… so one less rodent in the world wouldn’t bother me one bit. Yes, I woulda run his furry little ass over. It’s cruel and cold… but just think. It coulda been their leader. ;)

    Reply

  11. “there is beauty even on the mornings when your tire breaks, and you are forced to slow down. ”

    Yes, Katja…your last line nails it!

    {{hugs for the frustrations that got you there!}}

    Cheers! to my half-full glass friend!

    Reply

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