My dad was elbow deep in a Nebraska, gas station trash can when he struck gold.

 

Well. Technically, he was reclaiming gold. 

 

But in that moment, as my sister, brother and I, sat in the 90-degree car, growing increasingly irritable in our impatience to get to the lake, it felt like the most miraculous find in the world.

 

You see, bright and early Saturday morning, we packed up one of my father's many cars, hitched up the 90s jet ski, stopped by Danny's Tacos for the 4th morning in a row (I'm becoming worse than my brother), and hit the road to head to Lake McConaughy near Ogallala, Nebraska. 

 

A huge-ass lake not too far from Colorado, and one we've been going to for the past four years.

 

(That lake has seen many a friend, lover, and pet come and go in the Tyler family. One time, I even brought my rat to the lake because we couldn't leave him in the hotel room after we had checked out. 😂)

The sand is white and soft as hell, the hotel is pretty dang cheap, and it's the perfect place for a lowkey getaway.

 

This weekend was our first trip of the summer and the first trip is almost always… a little rocky. 

 

First, we left Saturday morning instead of Friday night, which was a total rookie mistake. Second, the weather ended up being kinda crap the first day. And third, as we pulled up to the lake… the water was wildly low. 

 

Turns out the dam that keeps Lake McConaughy a lake has a hole in it… which of course, we'd never thought to check ahead of time. But we battled against all of the subpar conditions and made the best of the situation.

 

 

It was a beautiful day. We'd all gotten up early to get a head start on the lake. The jet ski was registered and ready to go. And just as we'd finished packing the car and were about to fill up on gas, my dad speaks five words that will result in a series of unfortunate events. 

 

 

After a quick car search turns up nothing, we all start to panic. We go back to the hotel, check the front desk, check the hotel room, check our breakfast booth, unpack the entire car, go through every single bag, nook, and cranny, walk the road to see if the wallet fell out somewhere along the drive, ask the gas station cashier, and…

 

 

At this point my dad's pissed. My brother, sister, and I are seriously disgruntled. And the gorgeous day that's absolutely perfect for lakeside beach lounging is beginning to slip away. 

 

“Dad, it's time to accept defeat.” 

 

He curses and then says through clenched teeth, 

 

“Fineeee. There must be a reason for why this is all happening.”

 

We repack the car. My dad talks about how strangely calm he feels now that he's turned it over to God (Universe, Source, Cosmos, whichever reference you prefer). 

 

I suggest we check one last time at the gas station. 

 

My sister, brother, and I are all sitting in the car when we hear someone scream,

 

“YES!" 

 

And we look over to see my dad holding his wallet in the air like Mufasa presenting Simba in The Lion King.

 

Our jaws hit the ground. An old man stares. 

 

“You won't believe what just happened.” My dad says to the old man. 

 

“You… lost your wallet and then… you found it.”

 

“Well, yeah. But, in the trash.”

 

The old man chuckles and goes back to pumping gas. 

 

And from this whole trashy situation, there were three ridiculously important things I was reminded of. 

 

 

I don't know how what you believe in, First name / friend, but the more of this business I build, the more “woo” I get. Because as a biz owner you face an absurd amount of setbacks. Posts that flop. Launches that make nowhere close to what you want. “Sure-thing” clients who bail. Whatever. 

 

And if you take all of that as a sign that you're on the wrong path and someone's out to make sure you fail, you're freaking screwed. 

 

Instead, you've got to opt for believing that everything that happens to you is for a good reason. Like my dad, thinking that there was some cosmic justification for why God has stolen his wallet. 

 

A potential client flakes? Someone better must be coming along. 

A post flops? It's inspiration to create something better next time. 

A payment falls through? Idk, but it has got to be for a good reason. 

 

Trust that every little piece is part of a bigger picture that you can't see until you're looking back on it. Or don't. I can't tell you what to do.

 

But I can tell you that believing that it's all gonna work out has gotten me through a lot more than feeling like the world is out to get me. 

 

 

Maybe it's a gut feeling, maybe it's a little voice that pops into your head, or maybe it's just a knowing, but whatever the hell it is all of us have one and it always knows.

 

And more you practice listening to that voice, the stronger it becomes. But, the less you listen to it, the quieter it gets.

 

So when your intuition tells you not to invest in someone, trust it.

And when it plops in a new idea that you feel inspired to try out, try it. 

And when it tells you to stick your whole arm into a gas station trash can, just do it.

 

It will lead you to wild and wonderful places even if the path to get there isn't what you had in mind.

 

 

I know I wrote an entire newsletter that told you to just be a quitter sometimes, but… I'm here to contradict that advice. 

 

Here's the thing, there's a time and a place to throw in the towel and call it quits, but there's also a time and place to keep going even when you're starting to lose hope. 

 

My dad knew, deep in his bones, that that damn wallet was somewhere nearby, and even though he was cool with not finding it, he followed his intuition to that gas station trash can and kept going even when any logical person would have run away the second their fingers brushed the slimy, trash goods. 

 

And at the very bottom of that garbage bag, underneath half-eaten McDonald's burgers, chewed gum and snotty tissues, and all the gross crap that comes out of people's cars on road trips… that was where he found his wallet.

 

He didn't give up at the first layer of trash, or the second layer, or even the third, that man kept on digging until he found his leather wallet in the least likely of places. 

 

 

 

Know that things usually turn out for the best (even if you aren't sure why it's all happening in the first place), always trust your gut, and—if your intuition tells you you're on the right path—don't you dare give up. 

 

And if you ever lose your wallet, check your nearest gas station garbage?!