I am back at over-analyzing a niche activity and drawing parallels to life. This time it is something I enjoy a lot — driving.
While driving, you can only see a little far (especially at night). What lies ahead in the complete path remains unknown to you. We move ahead, trusting that there will be a way forward. That once we exit the tunnel or take the right, there will be a path to continue. In essence, our vision is myopic, and that’s exactly how much future we can know and be sure of. This requires us to be attentive all the time. Even the best of instructions (google maps) could lead us to a dead-end, in which case we need to adapt and find a new path.
Somedays, you get lucky with green lights and zoom through the path quickly. On other days you have to stop at every red light. Sometimes it’s raining, or there’s an accident ahead, and you are stuck for hours. It highlights the role of luck and timing. The same journey could be unpredictable on different days.
However skilled of a driver you are, your speed is throttled by the pace your lane is moving. If the driver ahead is slow, you are stuck. If the driver in front moves strategically, you can save a lot of tricky turns following them closely. Some lanes move faster than others. It symbolizes careers a lot. To move faster, you need to shift to lanes that move faster. It might not be possible to do that immediately, so you need to wait it out until you get a chance.
Taking a detour is risky and could increase the time to reach where you want to. However, detours can also turn into shortcuts or a more exciting ride along the way. Plus, who knows how much time the original path would have taken?
Driving can evoke all sorts of negative emotions — frustration when the traffic hardly moves and anger too when some auto or bike cuts your lane. But through it all, it teaches us to remain patient and not be overpowered by our emotions.