We don’t have much parking available on our street anymore. All of the spaces have been taken up by tenants of homes in the neighbourhood and visitors overnighting more than ever before. Our driveway slants in such a way that getting in and out of our car is nearly impossible when we’re parked there, so we have parked on the street in front of our house for over a decade.
More and more often these days, finding a space in front of our house has become a crapshoot.
Whenever I come home from driving somewhere and someone is parked in “our space,” I get a little bit angry. I shouldn’t really get angry at all. It’s not as if we own that space. But since we moved in, it has been the space we’ve parked in more often than not.
I look out the window every once in a while, and sometimes I see another car parked there. I get a little bit angry again. I know I shouldn’t, but I do.
It’s little things like this—the perceived injustice of a parking space being taken away—that get in the way of bigger things. I’ve spent a lot of time mapping out how I might talk to the tenants in the house next door when I see them parking in our spot. What does that confrontation look like? Will it be amicable? Will they adhere to my wants? Will they ignore me and walk away? How would I handle any of those scenarios?
You know what I could have done instead of that kind of deliberation? Written more. Read more. Played with my kids more. Heck, anything that has a bigger impact more.
The little things you have in your life won’t be the same as the ones I have in mine. But they are there. Don’t let them get in the way. They are so little that they should take up as little time and space as possible.
I’m going to park bigger—and better—things in those spaces from now on and spend time monitoring them instead. I encourage you to do the same.
