I was stuck in traffic the other morning - something that I
am extremely grateful for not having to endure very often. I wasn’t upset or
anything, I was just sitting there quietly minding my own business, listening
to some audio, relaxing. But at one stage I realised this was getting
ridiculous. I noticed that it took me about– oh, upwards of 30 minutes probably
- to crawl a few hundred metres, maybe even less. Not kidding. Since I hardly
ever drive that route, especially during peak traffic, I was wondering whether
this was normal, or whether there was some incident or road works up ahead (it
later turned out neither!). But then I noticed what was causing this – I was
waiting at an exit off the highway – two lanes, with a long queue waiting ahead
and behind me. However, many people were not prepared to wait so they were
speeding past, squeezing in closer to the front. It meant the line wasn’t
moving since people were continually pushing in, and as people in the line saw
this, more and more of them got irate, got out of the line, sped ahead and
pushed in too! To the point they were blocking one total lane on the freeway!
The result was EVERYBODY (including them – as they had to beg, borrow and steal
their spots!) was moving slower.
At first it made me think of a lesson in teamwork and how,
if everybody were just moving at a slow pace, but MOVING, the whole line would
benefit. But after a while of zero
progress, it occurred to me I was sitting in a pack and other people were taking
their chances. Now usually that’s me (taking the chances, not sitting in a
pack) - PROVIDED it is not rude or offensive. Which the pushers-in were. Also, I am not a timid person, so it is not
about being a “walkover” for the pushers. So what could the lesson be here? I
was not prepared to go with the second pack (the pushers) – and believe me at
this stage they were a pack too. So I started thinking - how do I balance not
getting upset, just accepting and being polite, with standing (well, driving in
this case) for my rights, grabbing opportunities, moving ahead.
And that’s often a dilemma – balancing these (seemingly)
opposing forces. We either have to be forceful or accepting, either the one or
the other. Could this teach me (and maybe others if they will), to be accepting,
yet not stagnating? To allow things, but to know where to draw the line?
Let’s rather think of balance – between what would serve us
(in my case progressing), and being accommodating, or patient. My message is this – as I am growing
spiritually, I have learnt to become more patient and accepting. But at the
same time I don’t want to sacrifice my tenacity and assertive nature. And I
don’t have to; I just always have to find the best way, the balance.
I met a lady much later that day that was stuck (seemingly)
in that same traffic jam, and she told me it had spoilt her whole day. I had to
pity her as by that time I had long forgotten about it. It still only is a
traffic jam, not worth ruining six, seven, eight subsequent hours, or what?
Oh, so how did I balance it? I am not sure if I had. But I
made a point of telling the “offenders” to wait or signalled to them to get in
behind me. Of course they didn’t all obey and most only drove further ahead and
pushed in there, but some did actually “oblige” - which of course still upset
the person behind me! (I smiled broadly at one gentleman, signalling he could
fall in behind me like I was doing him the biggest favour in the world!). And I
paid closer attention to “gaps” and actually as I started moving saw a few that
I could take - without being rude.
But I had time to reflect again and learn more. About how
this affects my life, the constant balance between being forceful and allowing.
And actually it served me, as another synchronicity happened when I arrived at
my destination, which probably would not have happened had I arrived earlier
(more about that one later!).
But for now my message remains one about being about
the “best way”. And isn’t that apt for describing a driving incident!
Love and light,
Celeste
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