Maintenance

As some of you may have noticed, I did miss a day of posting. I did say that I would do my best to post every day for a while, but I was unprepared on Thursday. I do have a valid excuse though. I was finally changing my brake pads, rotors, and calipers with the help of a good buddy of mine. This event took longer than planned and left me no time to focus on this blog. If you would have seen my front driver side brake however, you would understand that it NEEDED to be done. Matter of fact I will attach a photo below.

            Thinking about vehicle maintenance transitions into a good topic. Just like a vehicle, your body and your mind need regular tune ups and checkups. In order for a vehicle to work properly, all the parts need to work properly and together to get you from point A to point B safely. As you can see in the picture, safety was lacking! It is important to take time for yourself and to make sure that everything for you is in order and working properly. Take the time and check your physical health, your mental health, your dental health…just check it all. Sometimes in life things will happen and that will act as a warning sign that something may be afoot. For my brake assembly, as you may imagine, every time I hit that brakes, I was getting reminded that something is off. Obviously, I knew that I had to do something about it, so that’s what we did. We took the time to take it all apart, checkup other key components while we had access, and addressed the issues.  

            Leading up to this there were warning signs. These warning signs may have told me to change the brakes in a timelier manner before they got as bad as they did, but to be honest, I am a bit of a procrastinator. For a while, I could tell when I let my foot off the gas that the truck would slow down almost as if the brake was slightly engaged. It was something that always had me curious. I just never took the time to dive in and see what was going on. This is something to note, signs can come from all around and in many forms. Sometimes this sign will be big and flashy and grab your attention right away. The screeching from my brakes sure did the trick. Other times however, the warning can be subtle, and you really have to be in tune with yourself to pick up on these warnings. The truck seemingly slowing down faster than it should when I let up off the gas is an example of a small warning sign.

            For your own health, a small warning sign may be small headaches that are more frequent. Maybe your noticing a tooth that aches a little when you eat ice cream. You could have random numbness in your fingers or toes. All these are things that you should pay attention to because they may be leading up to something bigger. The small headaches could be a brain tumor. The tooth aches with different temperatures could be a root canal. I am not really sure what the numbness could be signifying though, I haven’t taken medical classes, but just use your imagination.

            Other times there may be no warning signs. You could have a heart attack. You could faint while at the wheel and crash. This is why it is important to have regular checkups to help monitor your health. Just like many things in life, it is typically easier to maintain than to outright fix or change something. If I would have maintained my trucks brakes better and inspected them myself sooner, maybe we wouldn’t have had to use a 6-foot post to get the lug nuts off or a sledgehammer to get the rotors off.

            You also have to take care of your mental health. Take the time to meditate, relax, or see a therapist. Find ways to get your head right if you are feeling a little off. It is easy to overlook warning signs of mental stress as there typically isn’t a physical pain involved.

The point is, take or make the time to spend on yourself and make sure that you are operating the way you should be. If this isn’t something you already do, start by doing this once a month. Sit down and really write down the things that you feel may be off. Analyze what you write and make actions accordingly. As time goes on, try to do this as frequently as possible. The more you take care of yourself the better you will feel and the more productive you will become.

 

Much Love and God Bless