Oh the Days of Driver’s Ed.

I remember when I was in high school we took a semester of driver’s education. Wow, right?! When’s the last time you heard of a high school offering that. (I am 49 this year.)

We had to watch what seemed like a ton of these videos, and every one of them focused on the perils of driving. Making me wonder if it was even worth learning!

The Driving Metaphor

I began to realize that driving is a big deal. There are so many things to focus on at any given time. It’s amazing that we can actually drive these machines with little to no issues, usually.

During one of these many videos, there was a particular line that stood out. It’s the ol’ (original–I believe they changed this too) Stop sign mantra: Stop. Look. Listen.

I am sure, especially if you took driver’s ed. or even learned to drive from someone that did, you have heard it. And maybe you even recite it, as I do at bizarre moments for no apparent reason (to the detriment of my child and probably my husband too).

Stop. Look. Listen.

So yes, this popped up into my brain not too long ago and would not go away. Just like one of those random “ear-worms” we collect. Well there it is.

Stop. Look. Listen.

So what started forming in my mind was: Stop. Complaining, whining, negativity, jumping-the-gun, moving too fast, moving too slow, anger, hating, frustration, procrastinating, stalling, over-thinking, over-feeling.

And then I figured: Look. Where you are. What you are doing. Who you are with. How it is going. When is it going to happen.

With the final idea: Listen. To your intuition. To God. To Guruji. To Divine Mother. Oh, that bears repeating, to your intuition. To God. To Guruji. To Divine Mother.

When we are rolling down the road of life, there are so many things/situations/near-misses/aggravations/distractions that tend to leap into our way. We have this moment really, just a split second, to stop. And in stopping we can look at what is really happening, or trying to happen. And then listen to our inner guidance.

And in the moment we may need to repeat these three steps. Stop one more time, look again, listen more deeply.

I am realizing, at times more and more clearly, that things are not always what they seem. (Seems an obvious statement. But think about the last time you heard something, or saw something only to realize you did not “hear” or “see” the entire situation.) There are so many factors that can shift a situation one way or another.

And as Paramhansa Yogananda said, all situations are neutral. It is (and this is really true) our response or reaction that makes it a positive experience or a negative experience.

Stop. Look. Listen, listen, listen.