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If Life Is A Drive
You first learn about how your car works (where the indicators are, how the clutch works), how to drive it, then about the rules and regulations of the road. You learn different driving maneuvers like doing parallel parks, turning right at intersections, hook turns (Melbourne roads), and if you were lucky enough, your instructor would advise you on how to drive in different road situations. The first few times you touch the wheel, stepped on the clutch and attempted to rev and hit the friction point, more often that not, you stall. It takes a few tries learning how to get the car moving. After you do, it's hard to believe you finally have control of the wheel. There are times when you feel like you're the safest driver ever - never speeding, stopping right at the red light etc. There are times when your instructor is always shouting at you because you never indicated, never changed gears, or for some reason, hopeless at parallel parks. Sometimes these mistakes arise because you did not know what to, or could not multi-task enough to do everything required at that split second; sometimes you just cannot be bothered. And the more we drive, the more we cannot be bothered. We get so comfortable being on the road such that we forget to be safe. We forget we have to follow the rules for a reason. Are you that sort of a driver? Some are reckless drivers, some are extremely safe. Some fall asleep at the wheel, and some are always uptight and tense. There are times when you obey the traffic rules, yet there are also times when you get impatient and dash through the amber and the zebra crossings without giving way to the pedestrian waiting to cross. After all, your aim is to get to your destination safely in the fastest manner possible. But what if the whole point of driving was not about reaching your destination or the route that you took? What if it was about how you drove? Life, and its many other things, is a Drive. Some started learning how to drive once past the age limit, and others not well into the ages. No matter when you touched the wheel of Life, stepped on its clutch and took control of it, no matter when your Independence Day was, you learnt how to make jokes, when to keep your mouth shut, when to be (or act) sympathetic, understanding etc. You learn the names of people just like your road names. You learn how to act in different situations. In the first few years of teenage/adult life, you often stall. You make mistakes in social protocol, you are quiet, shy, and often ostracized. But you finally get your car moving after a few tries. And suddenly, you have a life going. Sometimes you feel you're doing everything right - disciplined in studies, understanding and fun as a friend, obedient to your parents, and focused in everything you do. Sometimes you feel as though you're making all the mistakes in the world - lazy at work, taking your friends and family for granted, basically being altogether selfish and wondering why everything is going wrong. These mistakes sometimes arise because you have too many on your mind and tend to protect your own interests and forget to think for others, or sometimes simply because you cannot be bothered. And the more we drive, the older we grow, the more self-centered and un-bothered we become. It becomes less easy to trust, and more easy to think of ourselves and forget others. We wonder why we crash, why our friends leave us, why our family members become estranged from us. Sometimes it's beyond our control (car behind hit me for no rhyme or reason), but more often that not, we forget we have to be kind for a simple reason: so that it would be easier for others to be kind to us. So what sort of driver are you? Are you the reckless driver that has become so jaded to this dog-eat-dog world that you have forgotten what kindness and trust meant? Are you the person that fell asleep behind the wheel, so tired that you've lost all motivation? Or are you always uptight and tense about doing the right thing, such that you fail to enjoy your drive? More often that not, we're a bit of everything: obeying the rules at times and being gracious to people around us, being the bitchy one who can't be bothered about anybody else, or basically just protecting our self interest. After all, your aim is get where you want to be in the fastest way possible. But what if the whole point of Life was not about the route you took, but how you took it? What if how you drove your Life determined where you ended up? It's not about what you decided to do as a living nor the route you take. You could be a priest or a doctor or a tax collector. It's about what you did to others as a tax collector that determines where your final destination would be. If Life was a Drive, how are you driving it?
5.moon.sky was here at 7:54 pm
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