For the past few days I've been enjoying the seasonal - and welcomed - challenge of keeping my mood on track. One of the ways that my mood messes with my head is cravings - ravenous ones. That's why I started looking at tires.

Cravings hit me most when I'm driving somewhere - especially if it's a long drive. I associate long drives with road trips, I associate road trips with road food, I associate rood food with travel, I associate travel with freedom.

On this particular "long drive" (25 minutes) I developed a craving out of nowhere. I started wondering:

• Am I anxious about something?

• Do I need some type of dopamine hit right now?

• What is causing my mind to think about that?

I then decided, that it doesn't matter what is causing it or if anything is on my mind. That feeling is there, it's okay, and I need to change the game.

I came to an intersection, stopped, and directed my attention to the right rear tire of the car to my left.

I noticed the tire's brand, the bright mint green cap that covers the air hose socket, the tread - it looked newer, the brake pad, the wheel itself - shiny, and I noticed how the tire moved when the stop and go light turned green.

I stopped thinking about my craving and started wondering about the tire.

I didn't silence the craving by ignoring it. I acknowledged it and I reminded myself it's okay to have it. I also started noticing something else totally unrelated.

Next time frozen custard or cookies (oh my gosh, cookies are a problem for me) is on your mind, consider a tire.