Bumpy Roads

There was something I was really keen to go to.  In fact I had told the organizer I would be there.  There have now been three of these once a month events.  The latest one was the first I have attended. 
It was not like I did not want to go.  The 7.15am start with breakfast did not deter me.  It was just that we were away when the first two were held.  It was not like I was close by, and could not make it because we had planned something else.  It was that we were a way away.  Like kilometres away.  There was no way I could be there.
Anyway, recently the one held, was the first I could attend, and I was really glad I did.  I got a chance to catch up with some people.  I learned interesting things about some I did not know; like one person was a painter, and went to the US on work, and another had a grand dad who fixed computers for a living.  This was stuff I did not know, but most encouraging was they are just like me.  Doing their best.  This was just a bit of background.  I was able to share some of what I have gone through to.
What I really liked to, was the story of a guy I had not had much to do with before.  He was saying how he is now a truck driver.  It was like a light bulb went on inside me, when he said this.
Being a truck driver means he travels long distances to many interesting places.  One place he was heading that he had never been to before, contained a really bumpy section of road.  His first response was like most, in that when he reached it, he complained.  He then thought, ok, I can complain about it, or do something else.  What he did was prayed during the bumpy section.  There was about half an hour of it.  What I found really amazing is that he was looking forward to that section on the way back, because a bumpy section flicked a switch in him that meant, this is a pray time.
I was astonished at the change it meant for him.  Instead of a bumpy section prompting complaint, it prompted something else that did both him and others good.  Complaining may help the complainer feel better, but it is normally a downer for anyone within ear shot.
I reckon that is really good, in that in life I have a choice.  I can complain at bumpy stretches, or I can do myself and others good.  I felt my capacity had been enlarged as a result of his experience.  Some responses seem to make me smaller, and some seem to make me bigger.  I also got out of it that it does not matter who we are, if we can learn, we can grow.  I would so rather be like clay than concrete.