How's My Driving

A few months ago I had a car accident. I was in the far left side of a double turning lane. There was another car in the right lane and no one in front of either one of us. As I went to pass the car on the right, still in my lane, he decided to join me. He hit my passenger door.
I was so baffled because I couldn't figure out why he decided to change lanes when they were both turning lanes and neither one had a line of cars ahead of us.
We both stopped and I said to him, still confused, “you just hit me” he answered back, just as confused, “I know” I said “I just washed my car!”
Thankfully no one was hurt and I ended up sharing Jesus with the adjuster who came to look at my car, thank you Lord!
I tell you this because before the accident I didn't pay a lot of attention to the car next to me when I was driving down a road. I was pretty confident in my driving skills.
Since the accident I find at times I'm almost paranoid when I see a car come too close to me or the line dividing us.
I mean really, how is that one white line or two yellow lines going to stop a car? I get a bit nervous when I'm changing lanes and I triple check before I move over.
I hope this will eventually go away because it's, well it's annoying .
It got me thinking about people. You know people you meet and get close to and before you know it someone has gone over a line and you crash.
Either one of you is injured or both of you are.
Some crashes are worse than others. Sometimes you have an incident with a friend, relative, loved one or coworker and you lick your wounds and move on. Other times the injury takes a little longer to heal and sometimes it's a fatality and your relationship is over.
What happens when your on the road again? When you meet someone else do you become paranoid that they are going to cross the line and you will crash with them too?
Do you double and triple check before you let them get close to you to avoid another “accident”?
I wondered in my own life how many people I passed by because there was a chance I might get injured.
How many people took the hit for the person that actually caused my emotional wreck?
Do we get paranoid and think someone right out of the possibility of having a friendship or relationship with them?
If your not careful your life can become more like bumper cars, just slamming into one relationship then into another. Taking or giving a hit then moving on as fast as possible.
Or maybe your more like a NASCAR driver. Looking all spiffy and cool but never slowing down long enough to actually meet the other drivers.
I wonder what kind of lines we have drawn that a person cannot cross over. Some are good lines made by past experience but others are more like road blocks.
Life is a ride there's no doubt about that. We definitely need to exercise caution but let's not decide everyone is a wreck waiting to happen.
Years ago my friend and I were sharing stories telling the reasons we broke up with men we were dating. It seemed there was something wrong with every man we went out with. She was telling me about a guy she ran into that she dated and how he looked so great and what a nice guy he was. I asked her “why did you break up with him again?” and she said “because he had a post office box.” I said “didn't he work for the post office?”
We both laughed and laughed at how crazy that sounded. She went on to explain, but it's one of those you had to be there kind of stories.
I tell you this because there wasn't something wrong with every guy we dated, there was something wrong with us.
We were driving with hazard lights, bright lights and sirens. We were more like a tow truck hauling our past wrecks along with us. No one had a chance.
Gems I guess what I'm trying to say here is use wisdom in all your relationships but don't be such a defensive driver that you miss out on meeting some amazing people.
Don't junk a perfectly good vehicle just because it occasionally breaks down. Even the most dependable car needs a tune up.
Slow down and enjoy the ride. It's always better to share it with someone, whether it be a friend or possible spouse.
Allow yourself to take new journeys with a clean slate and allow others to have a clean slate too.
Everyday with Jesus is a new ride. Thank God He doesn't bail on us every time we need an ambulance to pick us up or the person we ran over.
If your not ready to get back in the driver seat that's OK. Just pull into the nearest rest stop and spend time healing.
When your ready, get back on the road and flow with the traffic. Be courteous to your fellow drivers and let people in when you can.
Before you decide to get back on the road of life ask yourself, how's my driving? And if you get the green light proceed with caution but don't be a traffic jam.