Vroom... Vroom... it's time for Life's Driving Lessons

I never thought much of the "driving school" experiences before. My personal resort was not to think too much of them because that was what my driving instructor told me - "you need to focus on the actual driving, the action itself instead of wondering too much on the risks and thinking what's the best course of actions to be done in a certain situation or emergency". (Besides the fact that I seriously did not think too much of it now. Back then, perhaps, but not now.)

"You don't calculate your steps too meticulously on this - just relax, practise and focus on driving, not focusing on thinking of how best to drive".

Those were some of the lessons that she gave. She was a beautiful lady - not delicate, yet so womanly and feminine. And, my oh my, was she so patient! She endured my stupidity and slowness in driving with as much patience a normal human being can handle, although there were some rough moments.

Well, who can blame her... At least she didn't give up on me when I really felt like quitting. And she did not let me give up on myself too. Despite the urge to just stop and accept the fact that I was too slow on learning how to drive a freakin' car, I stayed on and took extra classes.

Funny to think of all these now, given the fact that I used to hate going to driving classes. I guess the need to own a driving license at that time was so strong that I just had to go on until I succeeded. And the sweet taste of success was so worth the pain.

Some of the things that she told during our lessons are always stuck in my head. Like the one I mentioned earlier, about not thinking too much of how to live but just focus on living it. Oh, well, maybe she did not use the exact word "live" and only meant to say "drive", but the equivalence of those two verbs is so stunningly close and alike, I always remember the symbolism of Life in her words.

There was another one that I can never forget. Never.

You see, in the beginning (and perhaps occasionally up until now ^_^ ),I always had problems adjusting my safe distance and maintaining my car's directions. It would almost always go into the other lane especially when I made a turn. I could not anticipate how much to turn / steer the wheel appropriately with the flow of the roads. This was my biggest issue at the time - it cost me tears at the end of one or two (or maybe more) lessons. I almost gave up driving entirely because of this.

My driving instructor would always remind me to look much farther ahead on the road so that I would turn / steer the wheel according to the farthest point of the road that I could see. She would always scold me diligently when ever I broke this rule of hers - "Awak kena tengok jauh lagi, fokus pada hujung jalan, bukan lubang depan mata awak ni!".

"Look farther, focus at the end of the road way ahead in front of you, and not the hole right in front of this car!"

I did not comprehend at first. I could not understand why I could not just focus on the nearest point of view instead of straining my eyes to get a better vision of the end of the road. It was quite ridiculous too, at first. Wouldn't the car turn too early if I did that? Wouldn't the car enter an exit too soon if I did that?

But as time passes by, I realised how true her statement was. And it took me much longer than my driving lessons to enable me to see her implicit, underlying reasonings.

It was like planning for your future, it was like preparing for one. It was like living Life. You have to just "live" it, but you also have to prepare for what's coming - to prepare for your future, you have to look so much farther ahead than the present.

In driving, looking farther ahead the course and focusing on the end of the road means that you prepare for any possible threats or likely accidents much earlier than the actual thing happened - you also steer better.

In Life, you look farther ahead to plan for your future and determine your ultimate goals, your final destination - executing your plans better when you have already "seen" the almost-invisible risks lying ahead.

And now, every time I drive on the road, her words keep ringing in my ears.

Don't limit your vision to things near you and right under your nose.

Instead, always look farther than your eyes can, and you will see that there's so much more to Life than the temporary thrills you are living on today.

Widen your gaze in the horizons and you will never know where it would lead you.

It is a world of possibilities.

Be careful, but enjoy the ride!

(( > _ <" ))