I Can Lift a Car (Part 2)

As I said before, I didn’t give up on humanity just yet. Two bands+ three friends+ one cheeseburger + one best chocolate malt ever + one picture with cute guy from the opening band + dancing as I’m packed in a crowd like a sardine = one of the best nights of my life. I know the math doesn’t seem to add up numerically, but if you realize the weight the sum carries, it makes sense.

At the beginning of last week, I planned to write an entire post about awesomeness of last Friday night. But after the way last week turned out, I’ve changed my mind. Last week sucked. The whole week my motto was “I Can Lift a Car.” Every time I needed a little boost I internally chanted “I Can Lift Car. Did you know… did you know that I can lift a car up all by myself?”

When Walk the Moon did their encore, the lead singer told everyone to take all of the bad stuff from the week and crumple it into a ball. They he told us to throw the ball away and lift up a car. It all started with Monday. But I don’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t a bad case of the Mondays or anything. In case you didn’t realize, Mondays are 1/7 of our lives. I’ve learned to live with them.

It doesn’t totally go with it the lyrics, but listen to the song “Iscariot” by Walk the Moon. It goes with the start of my bad week. I listened to it on repeat, and it actually made me feel better. I just kept thinking “Iscariot, you fool.” And sometimes it was directed toward myself. I was mad at someone else, but what’s worse is I was angrier at myself.

The song is about betrayal, likely referencing Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. It says “You can’t trust just anyone.” But that’s part of what brought me back to “I Can Lift a Car.” It’s like saying “I don’t need anyone else’s help, because I can get through this by myself.”

This doesn’t mean I’m deeming myself to a life of loneliness—though I did threaten to become a nun at some point last week. But I realized now more than ever that even simple struggles make us stronger people. Through heart ache, through pressure, through betrayal, we can become better people.

And while overcoming finals week, finishing the first half of senior year, and almost making the biggest decision of my life, I had to remember that everything will be ok, because I can lift a car.

Struggling? First, listen to “I Can Lift a Car.” Second, listen to “Float” by Pacific Air. The first will make you feel empowered; the second will make you feel at ease.

And one more thing, never under estimate the power of a little chocolate therapy.