Recent Musings:
Let's hit the road.
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Life is a little like a road trip, especially when traveling to unknown territories. One needs to learn to make decisions based on the surroundings by reading the signs and interpreting them as best as possible while trusting those who have traveled ahead.
Even when one has been driving for years, suddenly driving on new and unfamiliar roads can be scary. The streetlines can be hard to see in the dark and one needs to learn to use other cues for safe travels - street reflectors, the taillights of cars traveling in front. Even the experience of getting lost or turned around on the road teaches one how to retrace steps, to trust instincts, to ask for help or to try again.
It's easy to think that I've conquered driving then, and life, when I always cover the same streets, the same exits, the same traffic lights, the same situations, the same conversations, the same difficulties. I become overly confident and think I can handle just about anything.
However, the trick to becoming a great driver, both on and off the road, is to see how one fares on unknown and unfamiliar terrain, to see how well one does interpret the signs or hang with the curves on the dark and rainy nights. That's what make a driver a good driver, an experienced driver, and that's what will separate the travelers from the commuters and the women from the girls.