Thrills and Spills

Lani the Klutz has officially resurrected again. After thinking that I'm finally free of my clumsiness, two consecutive days proved me wrong. On a Thursday three weeks ago, because of extreme exhaustion, I accidentally took the wrong jeep (as I take public transportation to and from school) and ended up in SM North, which is definitely not waaay of from where I live. But that's ok, even if I had to jump over one of those concrete road blocks in the middle of the road just to cross (Why did Lani cross the road? To find a way to go home.) I was too busy laughing at myself to realize that I (literally) tripped over my own two feet and almost ended up losing my front teeth in the process (Yes, tripping over one's feet can actually happen. I can testify to that). I guess my guardian angel was protecting me and didn't allow me to fall flat on my face, because I was able to catch myself before I completely fell (about 35 degrees from the floor), but I ended up scraping my left foot and wounding the right. That would have been perfectly fine had it not been for the catastrophe that happened the following day.

It was raining - not hard, maybe, but it was definitely more than a drizzle - as I got off the tricycle to go out of our subdivision. The trike made a U-Turn and went toward me, so not wanting to be transformed into roadkill, I sidestep, only to find myself slipping and falling (hard) on my left side, with the elbow and knee catching most of the impact. Thank the Lord I was wearing a jacket that morning so the damage wasn't that extensive, but it was wounded all the same. The knee was a bigger problem. Even if the wound there wasn't as big as the one on my elbow, it was really bruised. Up to now, it's still a bit painful if I kneel with it.
Still don't believe my klutziness? I remember high school based on the landmarks in my mind, which are my infamous thrills and spills (focusing on the latter). First year: Wanting to avoid a puddle of mud, I tried jumping over it, missed by a few inches, and ended up looking at the nice lovely cloudy sky after a few seconds - in front of the whole school. Second year: Mentos moment - I tripped, and the heel of my shoe comes off, and I think it's still there up to this day. Third year: I tripped, did a pirouette that would have made a ballerina proud, and landed gracefully - in front of a tricycle station filled with drivers and students. Fourth year: The heel of my shoe caught on one of the steps of the stairs (yep, you read that right: STAIRS), and I found myself zooming from the second step of the flight onwards. My only consolation was that there were hardly any people at that time, so I was able to save face - well, not really, because I ended up laughing hysterically at myself that people eventually found out about it.

Those are just the major ones. Minor ones are liberally sprinkled all throughout high school, like tripping and ending up having all of the stuff inside my bag flying. Although I still tripped, fell, slipped, and whatever-it-is-that-you-call-them, it wasn't as bad as before. Yes, I did have my moments, as the M-shaped scar on my right knuckle proves, or my back which hurt for almost a month when I ended up slipping (a friend swore I levitated for a few seconds before landing), as well as possibly a security camera in Galleria when I ended up tripping there after valiantly trying so hard to prevent it from happening, but nothing major came until what happened three weeks ago. Now those are part of the classics.

And yes, I did not forget that I referred to myself as clumsy and not just a klutz. My clumsiness oftentimes extends to the way I think (taking the wrong jeep is a sure sign of it), but also because for some reason, I have this talent of dropping things, or breaking them, the biggest of which is a copying machine of the company where I served as an intern. I thought that I was cured of these, but I'm still all thumbs and two left feet.

Do I have a point after saying all of these? Aside from making you scared of me (I can just imagine raised eyebrows and weird looks directed at the computer right now), what I can say is that I wouldn't trade my klutziness for the world. Sure, it gave me a lot of battle scars to prove my fight, but who cares? This is a part of who I am. This is a part of me that God gave for a reason - maybe to teach me to be more careful, or to show more trust in Him, or to laugh more at life. Whichever's the case, I am happy about it. Makes me more unique.;) Heehee! Seriously though, it's one of those things that differentiates me from other people - a proof of God's individual love for us, because it means He loves each of us specifically and in His own special way for each of us.