Driving Lessons

I was running errands the other day when a car came up quickly behind me.  I noticed that the car was almost tailing me, and I became uncomfortable.  My first instinct was to speed up in order to get them off of my back, so to speak.  I don’t like it when people tail others; it’s a pet peeve of mine.  I figure that for the most part, folks need to either get in the other lane to pass me, or leave earlier to get where they need to go.  I am certainly not a slow poke on the road, but I don’t like to go much past the speed limit, either.  I figure that is the purpose for those little signs with the words “speed limit.”  All sarcasm aside, I felt like I made a life connection that day.

Sometimes, while riding the wave of life, I feel caught up in another person’s pace in life.  If a teacher friend is already on Unit 6 in math, then maybe I should speed up instruction, right?  Or, if a friend calls to chat and she indicates she’s done 4 loads of laundry already today, I better get busy with the laundry I haven’t even started!

A lot of this thinking has to do with the guilt we carry around, because we feel we are not being as productive as other people.  It’s a modern day fear of not “keeping up with the Joneses.”  If others are able to get so much done in a given day, shouldn’t we be able to do so also?  We measure our own productivity by another individual’s pace of life.  So, we rush around trying to match others’ accomplishments in order to feel validated.  But I don’t think that is what God wants us to feel.

We should feel motivated to be productive, yes.  And we should feel motivated to take care of the responsibilities we have, for sure.  And most days, I never have to worry about not getting things done, because I always have my list. But feeling insecure for not meeting up to someone else’s standard is not healthy.  So, my lesson learned that day running errands with that car tailing me is this:  I don’t have to speed up for the driver behind me.  I need to find the pace at which I can be comfortable yet productive.  I’m slowly finding my own pace in life.  It’s not always easy, but I’m getting there.  Day by day, in my busy life, I’m striving to find my own pace, judge my own distance, and find the appropriate “speed limits” in my life.