Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - April 16th

Turn your wounds into wisdom. ― Oprah Winfrey

Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience. ― Roy T. Bennett

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. ― Eleanor Roosevelt

Part 2

As the fire marshals were getting ready to leave, the apartment complex manager told me that the rental apartment was available for me to use for the next two nights.  After a long and exhausting day, I gathered a few belongings as I tried to determine my next steps.  Leaving my apartment, I walked towards a building that a friend and his wife live in and where I thought the rental apartment was.  Soon I discovered that I had gone to the wrong building and one of the front office staff found me wandering in the parking garage and ended up driving me to the correct building.  Making my way to the apartment, I dropped my belongings at the door and collapsed on the bed.

After a sleepless night, I awoke to go to the gym and start working on organizing my life.  Since I had never dealt with anything like this, I was not sure what to do.  I contacted friends and family to obtain advice about how to deal with fire issues, but few had ever dealt with a fire and were not able to assist.  Calling the insurance company three times, I finally talked to my insurance adjustor for 45 minutes about what was included in my renter’s insurance policy.  Within a couple of hours of talking with my insurance adjustor, I was contacted by a company that assisted with finding a hotel for me to stay in since the fire marshals said I could not remain in my apartment.  Next, I was contacted by a company to help clean my furniture of soot and water damage.  Lastly, I was contacted by a company that would dry clean all of my clothes. According to the contractors, there was minimal smoke damage to my apartment; however, my clothes were engulfed with the smell of smoke.

Over the time I was out of my apartment, I called family and the insurance company for advice.  Sometimes they were able to provide guidance and sometimes they were not able to help. 

The first lesson I learned was that we can prepare the best we can and seek advice.  After that, it comes down to weighing the facts and then making the best decision possible. 

In the coming weeks, I will talk about other experiences and what I learned from them.

CHALLENGE:   Prepare the best you can and deal with the experiences as they come!