Driving life

I drive my car almost every day which mostly happens without much conscious thought; I don't actively think, now I must break, or now I should turn the wheel, it just sort of happens. I set out on my trip then arrive at my destination after all that stuff in the middle, the breaking, turning, accelerating and other driving-related things. Easy.

Today when driving something made me think about the act of driving and how I set out from one place and carry myself forward to the next...but my thoughts went deeper and I realised I'm not just accelerating and turning, breaking and checking my mirrors; what's actually happening is hundreds, possibly thousands, of micro-adjustments across the journey and it's them, as much as the more obvious things, that actually carry me safely to where I want to go.

Keeping a car straight on a straight road isn't as simple as holding the wheel in place, it takes many small adjustments to the steering wheel to keep the car safely heading in that direction and between the lines. It's the same with the speed; I accelerate and break, but in between is many small adjustments on the pedal that maintains my speed at a constant and because that speed has to vary so do the inputs. Even when I have the cruise control on the car's computer is making those same adjustments.

Without those and other adjustments it would be impossible to get to where one wanted to go safely, or probably get there at all. Today in my car I thought about how that applies also to my life.

People have to make adjustments in life, no different to driving; some are big and others very small and, all combined, they help us make the journey through time, our lives, and from what we were to what we are and shall eventually be. If we were to set a goal destination and set our feet on that path it is doubtful we'd be overly successful in reaching that goal without making adjustments along the way, just like driving.

Looking back on my own life I see the changes, corrections and adjustments I've made in the past and work to do the same in the present moments as relevant; but how they effect me, how they carry me forward to success, take me off course, or impede my progress altogether I'll not know until it happens.