Confession

I've been holding in a big secret for a long time, and I thought it might get me into a lot of trouble. Each time I passed a law enforcement officer, I was certain that I would be stopped and taken in for questioning. Now I'm ready to confess, spill my guts, and come clean.

You see, I renewed my license tabs in July, but Washington now requires new plates every seven years. So I took the two shiny license plates with new numbers on them. Since the month hadn't ended and the old sticker was for July, I slid the plates under my passenger seat.

A few weeks later I bought some bolts, washers and nuts for the new license plates. Then I put them under the seat, too. In August I decided to install the plates, but of course the old nuts and bolts were rusted. Grabbing some WD-40, I squirted the bolts and let it penetrate for 15 minutes. Still, they wouldn't loosen. After two more unsuccessful attempts, I decided to give up before throwing my wrench through the windshield.

Two weeks later I tried a hacksaw, but the blade couldn't reach the bolts due to the truck's design. So I gave up again. A week after that, I bought some superduper rust buster from the auto parts store. Several applications later my old license plates were streaked with rust deposits, but the nuts and bolts were not budging.

Finally, more than two months after obtaining the new plates, I decided to ask for help. Actually, I was getting new tires when I decided to ask if the mechanic had any suggestions. With his help, using a pneumatic chisel, the new plates were installed in about 20 minutes.

So there you have it. I confess. It wasn't my fault, though. After all, what driver owns his own pneumatic chisel?

Do you put things off rather than deal with them immediately?
What do you do when you hit a snag?
How long do you work on a problem before asking for help?
Are you willing to ask for the help you need?

David Bentley, M.Ed. & Personal Coach, coaches clients through the game of life, helping them find balance, clarity of direction, and purpose in an ever-changing world.

You may contact him at 360.378.8436

by e-mail at david@coachbentley.com

or visit his Web site: www.coachbentley.com

editor@sanjuanislander.com

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