TGIF!

So, I started the week completely aware I’d be traveling to Texas for my first business trip of the New Year. However, I was completely unaware of what would happen when I landed in Dallas.

Not all of it was bad, but as it happens with any spontaneous occurrence, some of my best laid plans flew right out the window. In this case, those plans involved my fitting some fitness into my overnight jaunt…and they evaporated right through the rain-soaked windows of my rental car.

Basically, Mother Nature and road work put the brakes on my plans to head directly to the fitness center after checking in but before having dinner with my dear friend Jeanne Marie. What should have been a 15-minute drive from DFW to the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine quickly turned into a navigational nightmare with no apparent end in sight. My car’s GPS system kept looping me back to the same highway closure that sent me on a detour in the first place. As each minute ticked toward and beyond 5 p.m., the rain drops pounded more powerfully against the windshield and the sky grew a bit darker. After my third unsuccessful loop, I stopped at a red light where I tried to re-group. If it wasn’t for a very kind Texan named Troy, I might still be sitting there.

I was about to call the hotel’s front desk and ask someone to stay on the line with me as I drove to an alternate route when a black pickup pulled up alongside me. I asked the driver to roll down his window, hoping he could simply point me toward the right direction for an alternate route. Maybe it was my I’m-not-from-around-here accent or the harried look on my face, but Troy went above and beyond any expectation. He hopped out of his truck and into the rain to better hear me shout out from my window where I needed to go. Then he simply said “follow me, ” hopped back in to his pickup and lead me exactly where I needed to go. Thanks to some rush hour traffic and yet another road closure, I have no doubt Troy’s random act of kindness took longer than he planned.

As we came to the final intersection where a sign clearly pointed my hotel was only a mere left turn away, Troy got in the other lane to turn right and continue on with his original plans for the evening. Before he drove off, he got out of his truck in the rain a second time to make sure I was okay. I couldn’t say thank you enough times. If Troy ever travels to New York City, I can only hope to return the favor by helping him navigate the subways!

Maybe Mother Nature thought I needed a break from the elliptical machine. Or maybe she thought I needed a reminder that there are still friendly people out there willing to go out of their way (in this case, literally) to help someone out.  While it may not provide the same cardio rush as the run you go on to have fun and be fit, I’d say lending a helping hand  is a surefire way to make yourself and someone else feel fabulous!