I just finished a cross-country trip for a job contract. I’ve made this long drive many times and I pay close attention to driving habits on my (this time) twenty-seven hour drive. On this journey I seemed to focus on how drivers position themselves on the road in relation to me and those big eighteen wheelers. There are lots of typologies out there and I have yet to see how driving habits relate to personality but it would be interesting to investigate.
I am amazed at the number of cars that seem to change lanes every five hundred feet. Watching those drivers is like watching the silver ball bounce off the bumpers and obstacles in a pinball machine. What’s the problem with staying in your lane?
We create the delusion that changing lanes gets us to our destination faster. Obviously the truth is that continual lane changing leads to greater and more intense frustration of the drivers. It is a danger to those around these perilous drivers and requires those of us around them to be on hyper-alert.
How many times have you read the latest and greatest self-help book, spiritual guide, or diet book hoping for immediate resolution of your issue; perhaps even salvation? We’ve been indoctrinated into a culture of immediate gratification. It’s gotten to the point that we jump from one set of practices to another with disparaging remarks about the strategy we recently abandoned. Are we so delusional to believe that change is instantaneous? Can we be naïve to believe that our lives will mysteriously resolve all the past issues because we engaged in some practice or strategy for a couple of days or weeks?
When we don’t stay in our lane we become disillusioned with the possibility of change. Our experience of hope is diminished and that often derails our health and healing journey. We sabotage ourselves because we have been conditioned to believe that change happens because we wish it to happen instead of understanding that it takes work.
Next time you’re driving and see a serial lane changer and realize you both end up at the same red light; think about how that same premise arises in your life. Stay in your lane and give the strategies and practices you’re committing to a chance to create change in your life!!
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Want to “Stay In Your Lane” through creative practices? Visit http://www.timetolivecreatively.com
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Pilgrim Pathway/Surviving Strong 