Saturday, November 12, 2016

Long drives


The other day I heard of someone mentioning that a two hour drive is a long drive. And there is no doubt that it is. However, whether we deem a drive to be long or short depends on many things.

At first there is the time it takes us to get to where we want to go. Some places are just around the corner, while other places take a bit of time to get there.
Second, a road trip taking scenic highways with hardly any other traffic on it may take us longer to get there, however it may feel like it was an easier drive.
Third, if we are really looking forward to events that are likely to happen ~ if we are filled with expectation of what lies ahead ~ the trip may seem a lot shorter than the actual time it takes us to get there. And by the same token, going home can have that same effect.
Fourth, if we are used to driving long distances, a couple of hours to go from one place to another may be a short drive. In our experience, that is.
Fifth, and perhaps most importantly; if we think that it will be a long, hard drive with lots of obstacles we will have to overcome ~ if we think that unfamiliar territory is hard to navigate and will take lots of time and energy on our part ~ chances are that even a relatively short one hour drive seems to be an endless challenge to us.

So, while the actual driving time can give us an idea as to how long a drive it will be going from where we are to where we want to go, it seems like there are many other factors that have just as big ~ if not a bigger ~ influence on our experience in actually getting from ‘A’ to ‘B’.

The same is true for our path through life.
As long as we feel that life has to be a struggle; that the ‘normal’ in life is that it is filled with obstacles, chances are that is what our experiences will be.
If we define our wishes and desires by excluding the things we don’t want to have or don’t want to happen in our lives, maybe we fail to see all the good things that are coming our way.

Perhaps it would be a good thing to approach life as if it is a scenic highway that we are driving in the sunshine ~ with hardly any traffic that could be hindering us in our progress ~ enjoying our freedom!
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