I had a terrifying moment with my car today.
I purposely have become a night owl lately, Staying up late. And getting myself adjusted to it. So I'm wide awake.
I did this because Late at night is the best time for me to practice driving.
There are hardly any cars on the road, And I can make mistakes without causing an accident. (That sounds pretty bad I know).
It also helps me learn the actual roads, How to get into certain lanes and this will allow me to do better on those roads and feel more comfortable when I'm surrounded by other people during the day.
And hey, I'll learn how to drive pretty well at night. Which is a plus for road trips.

Note: These are actual pictures of the streets I was driving on. But AT NIGHT, For the first time. So It was more intimidating!

Thank you Google, For the photos

Going To Mcdonalds!

Why?
No, Not because I want a hamburger. But because it's an easy drive. All right turns, I figured it would help me practice making sharper turns, Because right now. I'm crappy at that.

I Turned too Early!

I ended up turning too early to the Mcdonalds. Instead of then doing a more difficult Left turn through the intersection, (Also Good practice) I decided to just go straight. I went through a couple of intersections going straight. And it was quite amusing to me. I started to wonder how far I could go straight.

But Then Things Started Getting Ugly

I saw a sign that said "Flex lanes".
Thats when I immediately started to panic, What Is a flex lane?
HELP!
I quickly thought, "I'll avoid turning, That way I can avoid the scary sounding "flex lanes." I'll go straight. Then I'll just go into a neighborhood, Turn around. And Go straight again.
I did that. But Then when I approached the intersection, I jumped into the middle lane. Assuming it would let me go straight.
That's when I saw that there was a turning arrow on it. And it would force me to turn, And by that time It was too late.
I was at the light.
I immediately looked around, At all the million lanes. WHICH ONE DO I EVEN GET INTO. OH MY GOSH!

The light turned green, And I did my best to get into the lane that would be closest towards the middle of the road.
I drove in that lane for a minute, And it seemed correct. But I was panicking. What if oncoming traffic shows up? I immediately switched lanes to the right. And I switched again.

There, I'm in the furthest right lane. So hopefully I can do an easy right turn. And start going straight home again.
Then I saw the Highway. And I was in that lane. OH CRAP! I quickly moved one lane over. So I could go straight again. I was shaking so bad; I remember being stopped at the light, Looking at my dashboard to see "0 MPH" And not believing it. Because I still felt like I was moving.
Finally, I kept going straight, and I saw a dark turn, That looked like it went into a neighborhood, So I turned into it.
I was so scared; I didn't' know where I was. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't know if I'd make it home okay. I was trying to not have a panic attack.
ALL THIS... Because I took the wrong turn! Because I couldn't freakin make it to Mcdonalds!
I sat in the middle of the road for a minute, Having a freaking cow! LOL
That's when I looked up and saw something familiar. The old run down Library that I had to go to once To take an important test. So I could graduate high school. I actually burst out laughing, Because the building looks so ridiculous and ugly. Hahahaha.
That's when I felt much better about the whole situation.
But then I came to a turn, That would get me on a road home... And Island great. WHY IS THERE AN ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. I decided to just "wing it" and hope I did it right.

When I got home, I was still so freaked out. It makes me wonder if buying a car was a good decision. That's when my friend that helped me get the car. Reminded me that once I learn how to drive, It will be easy, And I won't have to learn again.

So I must deal with this discomfort

It's easy to feel like giving up when things seem overwhelming like this. But it's part of the learning and growing process!
When I look at how far I've come to achieve my goal of being able to hike whenever I want, I'm pretty dang close. I've got the car! I just need to learn how to drive; Then I'm good to go.
Of course, The cold winter will slow me down when It decides to start snowing, But for now, Those trails are waiting, and I gotta hurry.
It seems silly for me to give up now! And that's how you should see many of your goals! We often turn away when we are so close to that last stretch of learning and fighting. Then Many of our efforts are wasted.

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