A Tall Tale Of Five Pals: The Precarious Dance Between Confronting Issues Head-On, And Not Doing So

     Once upon a time, in a far far away land, lived a humble and lovely team of friends, not related by blood, but related by the deep and unbreakable connection between their beautiful souls and the sweet and savory memories they went through and endured together, as one.

Michelle, who was the head of the team, always was in an emergency mode. Always hemorrhaging emotions and reactivity to everything. Always drowning in a sea of emotions and suffering, and carried away by the currents of its waves..

Johnny was highly detailed-oriented, but not so as to be unbearably finicky or fastidious. He made sure everything that the team did was on time and done in the best way possible.

Ahmed, was always the one to bring joy and laughter to the room, he was the joker; the entertainer, who always made sure that the team's mood was up and that no one was feeling down. He liked to maintain a high morale, even when things seemed to be going in the wrong direction.

Tiffany was the one who was always so worried and overly concerned and afraid about everything, a bit like Michelle, but with a craven sense of irrational and seemingly unshakable fear imbued into it. She was always the one to be apprehensive and the quintessential one to say "We're doomed! I love you friends, it's been an honor" while shedding tears ostensibly promptly and unduly.

Lastly, Jake was the analytical and systematic braincell of the team. As expected he also was detail-oriented, but unlike Michelle, he had exceptionally keen wits on calculations, and an eagle eye for spotting inconsistencies in planning and probability perception and prediction.

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              One day, they decide they're gonna partake in the annual big race that is organized by the city mayor and initiated every year to see who is worthy of the coveted "Prize of Racing Legends"

The team had a few weeks to prepare a vehicle from the ground up, as off-the-shelf vehicles weren't allowed, only creatively self-made vehicles were. Of course, expert assistance was permitted, up to a degree, such as that the racers, or contenders, couldn't ask a car manufacturer to design or even build their car from the ground up for them -they had to do it.

So the team hits the hammer and gets weaving.

Johnny, being so keen on punctuality kept the team on track, while Ahmed a high uplifting morale and encouraged everyone regularly to believe in themselves and in the team's capabilities.

Tiffany was always worried about sabotage attempts by rivals - a fear that did indeed turn out to be warranted later on-.

Jake made sure that all the data and info on vehicle engineering from his experience in the vehicle industry was on par with creating the highest standard vehicle and that all amounts and numbers matched and were congruent with the type of vehicle with immense power that the team strove to create.

Michelle helped organize everything and that harmony and balance were maintained on all fronts. All members contributed actively, one was or another, into designing, testing, building and finally re-testing all systems of the vehicle.

In a few weeks they're confident that they've created the most advanced and, in their view, the fastest and most 'stable' vehicle ever to participate in any race in the Big Race's 40-year history. The race.. was on!

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              As the day of race approached closer and closer, Tiffany began being almost paranoid that someone from a rival team who had heard about Michelle's team's participation was intending to sabotage their vehicle, perhaps by cutting a wire, tinkering with the engine, or messing with its electricity and suspension system. The team, beginning with the leader, Michelle, constantly reassured her that it will all be fine, and that the vehicle was safe at Michelle's own garage at her home.

Finally, the long-anticipated day arrives, and the team pitches into making the final preparations for the race as the transport of the vehicle via a truck from the city mayor administration was about to be underway.

Michelle was the one to be in the driver's seat, while Ahmed, Tiffany and Johnny were on the refueling and service pit of the 3-lap race, Jake preferred to stay among the audience and simply communicate with the others via their walkie-talkies .. Everything seems to be on schedule, perfectly set and ready for the Mayor to give the final beckon for the race organizers under his tenure to finally kick off the race. Excitement and an eerie sense of anticipation permeates the air as Michelle and all the others races take their place on the start line.

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              The race kicks off to a wonderful start for all racers except Lysak, whose vehicle refuses to even start, but then eventually does kick off.

Michelle and the team's vehicle astounds all with its novel 3-D quantum generator, massive engine and sophisticated suspension and even anti-gravity drivers! It was an engineering marvel in the whole sense of the word!

The first lap ends with Kasha, a racer from another planet, finishing first and Michelle second, which flustered Michelle and the team, especially Tiffany, who was just in over her head regarding her concern and distraught trepidation.

The second lap ends with almost all racers gone, for sundry reasons, including engine failure and attacks by the guardians of the valley of dystopia, a 15-mile long valley of old hunters, that the city just couldn't get a grip on.

The third lap commences. After a short while, the team receive dismaying news from Michelle.. The electrical systems and propulsion generators seem to be malfunctioning and could not hold for much longer.

Tiffany screams "This is the end. It's been a pleasure to have been on your side.", Ahmed tries to calm her down and cheer up the others. Johnny and Jake are fearful that this could spell the loss of a would-be winner of the Big Race that year - A first for a driver of outside origin, as Michelle and the team were from another planet in their star system.

Jake immediately does what he has to do and advises Michelle to back off the engines, and pull the breaks where she is. Tiffany is in a mental breakdown. Ahmed is losing hope. The scene is dark. Michelle is stubborn and doesn't relent, saying "I do not have time for this right now. I can't afford to stop to let the engines cool down and see what can be done to mend the generators. I will just continue and hope it all turns out well."

Michelle is losing ground to their old rival -and the one who happened to have sabotaged their vehicle shortly before the race began, substantiating Tiffany's premonition.

Jake takes his Walkie-talkie and yellingly admonishes Michelle: "Michelle, STOP! you have to pull the brakes and stop where you are to tend to the technical snags of the vehicle. This could induce a total vehicle breakdown, and all tireless work will go down in the water. You cannot just 'hope' it will turn out well, because it very likely will not end well for any of us. It's wishful thinking to bury our problems and hope they will just disappear or not affect us. We cannot bury our heads in the sand no more! STOP!"

Ahmed tells Michelle and take a deep breath and think about how there is no way for the team to win the race unless Michelle pulls to a grinding halt and fixes the vehicle. "There is no other way", he shrieks, with tears rolling from his eyes.

Johnny concurs with both Ahmed and Jake and furthers their warnings by repeating a similar message to Michelle: "Michelle, my dear friend, look, if you do not stop and make the necessary amends, which are possible to do mid-race, and will not waste much time at all, you risk the vehicle breaking down completely with no return or redemption. And Sylvester, the only other racer left now, wins! Please, for the good of the team, STOP!"

Michelle doesn't listen to any of them and obstinately sticks to course. Not long after, Sylvester, sensing an opportunity to take over Michelle, who had the number 1 spot for so long, doesn't skip a beat and hits Michelle's team's vehicle and causes it to lose momentum and speed. This ends up shaking the vehicle so vehemently that the generators tenuous and precarious link to the car's engine and anti-gravity drivers gets severed. And the vehicle does indeed crash, with Michelle getting injured and, of course, losing the race in the final lap, when the team was so close to reaping the fruits of their hard and diligent work.

The team witnesses this all unfold before their very eyes via the huge screen at the racing start line, where they were the entirety of the race. They are disappointed, mad, distressed and just in disbelief of how such a calamity befell them, especially because it could have been prevented has Michelle heeded their warning and not refused stopping and making the requisite repairs, which would have likely saved the team, and got them the coveted and prestigious "Prize of Racing Legends"

......

              The moral of this story is to illustrate how refusing to sometimes pause and think about if stopping to repair fractured or strained relationships, taking care of oneself, or simply reflecting on what one or one's team has achieved and whether they have diverged from the path they initially set on, can be deleterious, and even fatal to one or a team's existence and work. Now, of course, Sylvester was the winner, but he cheated, since he has sabotaged the vehicle as Tiffany had sensed would happen.

As the old saying goes 'Never put off to tomorrow what can be done today.'