The past week starting Tuesday until Thursday I sat behind the wheel of a Nissan Sentra, first the manual model and the last two hours of my classes the automatic -- just to have a feel of the difference. People keep saying its easier to drive an automatic but I wanted to challenge myself by learning how to drive the stick shift. After all, majority of the cars that ply our Philippine roads are stick shift rather than automatic. After 5 hours of driving class, have I learned anything? You bet! They are the following:
1. It's important to be aware of what happens in your vehicle. At times I would concentrate more on what was going on outside my vehicle that I become unaware of where my hands were in relation to the steering wheel and my foot was already pressing on the gas :)
In life, it's pretty much the same thing. At times we tend to focus too much on what is happening out there, we forget to pay attention to what is happening in here (in our hearts, minds, and emotions). Self-awareness is key. A balanced one for if we become too focused on what is happening inside, we might run into an immovable object instead and find ourselves stunned by the impact or worse.
2. Slow movements on the steering wheel translates to a large movement onto the wheels. I tended to keep the steering wheel turned either to the right or the left too long thus making the car move towards the other lane.
A slight change in life direction has a huge effect or consequence. These consequences need not be something others necessarily see. They may be changes in life perspective, in values, in goals and dreams. Its also not good to keep on in the same direction when that particular way is supposedly a temporary state to correct something.
3. Keeping the steering wheel steady is important. It doesn't move around -- I move around. My hands can't quite seem to stay on an even keel. My driving instructor observes that my right hand tended to keep pulling (ever so slightly, mind you) towards the right. So my left hand would try to compensate but in doing so, I was making the car swerve from side to side.
Just like in life, once we are in the right lane and in the right place, what we need to do is keep our steering wheel steady. We get somewhere faster and in safety at that. At times we also tend to fight with ourselves (our conscience) and with God too much. Instead of keeping to the straight and narrow we veer to the left or to the right.
4. It's all a matter of perspective. I find it a challenge to be able to assess the distance of the vehicle I'm driving and the side of a parked vehicle or a person on a bike. Too many times has my driving instructor taken hold of the steering wheel to steer us away from a possible collision or sideswiping an innocent pedestrian.
At times our view of things are not as they truly are. We might feel we are still far from the edge especially when playing with 'fire' but we fail to see that we are already in danger of hurting ourselves or others.
5. Stay in your lane and you will not be in danger of colliding with another vehicle. My instructor would repeatedly say, 'If you are centered properly in your lane, there is no fear of an accident happening.'
How others are positioned in the journey is not as important as your own position. Another person's state -- emotional, spiritual, physical, psychological are not as important as your own. Before looking for the splinter in your neighbor's eye, it is best to check our own eye for the log that is found there.
These are only some of the fruits of my musings on learning how to drive. There is a certain freedom in being behind the wheel but as Fr Joel Jason taught us in moral theology, 'Freedom does not necessarily mean license.'
