Driving

One of things I've always thought about is the similarity between driving on the road and living life.

Just like driving, you need to know when to put on the brakes. Sometimes, it's because there's a bad driver in the next lane or it's because you realise you're going faster than you should be. Life's like that too. Sometimes I come across people who will test my patience, maybe someone really aggressive for example. That's when I try and slow down, be tactful and avoid unnecessary friction and confrontation. Sometimes, I realise I'm trying to live too fast. Pack everything into my day without doing justice to anything. Another instance when I need to pull the brakes.

In life, I also believe, you need to know when to step on the gas. Sometimes, it's in dealing with another aggressive person or it could even be dealing with someone who is too passive and being an impediment in the bargain. When I say aggressive, I don't mean it in the conventional way. I don't believe you have to be shouting from the rooftops and rubbing everyone the wrong way when you're aggressive. It's more of an attitude. It's manifestation may be quite different and depends on the situation. It's just like when you're on the road and there's this inordinately aggressive driver in the next lane trying to cut you off. Sometimes, I believe, it's important not to take nonsense from such drivers. You need to keep them in check. Or sometimes, there's this cabbie cruising at 20 km/h in the right-most lane. He needs to know he's being brainless! :)

The point I'm making is this - one of the most important things in life is knowing when to slow down and when to push yourself harder. It's something I believe I could improve on.