WALKING ROUTE 66

When You Keep Making The Same Mistakes

Learning the same lesson again and again.

Kean came out to bid me farewell in the morning. Thinking back, I should’ve offered him something toward the renovation of the Historic gas station. Live and learn.

He passed on some valuable info. There is no shoulder on the right side, but the left side has plenty of room to walk all the way to Tulsa. There is a c-store a few miles down the road if I need to replenish.

The man at the c-store said the restrooms were out of order, so I had to head on down the road. I came across a restaurant called Mattie’s steakhouse. It was closed for renovation, but I found the door unlocked, so I peeked in. Mattie said I could use the restroom. I handed her a flier and went in. When I came out, she and her partners had a lot of questions. They offered me donuts and coffee, and I made balloons for them.

Further down the road, I saw a place called Clothes and More. My shorts were getting too lose. Didn’t find anything mainly because it was mostly ladies’ clothes. While I was talking to the owner, the phone rang. Her 16-year-old son wanted to meet me. While I was waiting for him, the owner’s daughter came in with little Adalynn. Isn’t she just precious?

As we talked and visited, customers came and went, and I made balloons for the kids that came into the store. Some people even paid for the balloons. Money is never really an issue when you’re committed to doing what you love. Providence provides.

The next stop was Claremore, okay. Unfortunately, there was no one at the fire station, and the city hall was closed. The Carl’s Jr. restaurant, however, was open. I had lunch, charged up my phone, and the power bank — more kids, balloons, and money.

I might as well head on down the road. Verdigris was about six miles away, and I had plenty of daylight to get there. The fire chief said that I could camp out between the ample open space between fire and police stations. Just let the police know. They said it was okay.

I found a nice patch of grass away from the road, spread out my tarp, and made myself comfortable. I saw some lightning in the distance. A quick check of the weather app said 80% chance of rain. The inner voice said, don’t worry, you’re taken care of. The rational mind said yes, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared.

I moved under the canopy in front of the police station. At 11:30, an officer came by to say that I couldn’t sleep there. There was a light rain falling. I walked back half a mile and slept under an overpass. I positioned the stroller to block the wind. The rain had already stopped, but it was getting chilly.

Other than an occasional train passing, it was mostly a peaceful night. I woke up to a beautiful sunrise.

As I think back and ponder.

Sometimes we put ourselves through difficulties just so that we can validate and reaffirm a belief.

I was telling a friend on FB earlier that day: God doesn’t burden a soul more than it can bear. I should have stayed on the lawn when my inner voice told me to do so.

Hadn’t God protected me from rain earlier in the trip when I had to go across the highway because the restaurant closed earlier than I thought? It didn’t rain on the side I was, but it did on the other side.

I had undertaken the journey to raise the level of trust in God, and I had to put myself in a position to remind myself that yes, I must trust my intuition when it says something. Your intuition is never wrong.

Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.

Day 67: Challenges, Challenges, (Original blog post).

Just for fun.

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Rasheed Hooda is a published author who has contributed to many of Medium’s top Publications; The Startup, The Ascent, P.S. I Love You, Rogues’ Gallery, and ILLUMINATION, to name a few. He is also a Top Writer for several topics. If you like his work, buy him a cup of coffee, he drinks a lot of it.