The Traffic of Life

By Becki Balok

When a car cut me off in traffic the other day, I honked. Not once, but twice. As soon as I did I realized that if you want to practice spiritual principles, all you need to do is get behind the wheel of your car.

Have you ever noticed how many red lights you ‘hit’ whenever you are in a hurry? Every red light is a reminder to slow down, take a breath.

Have you ever noticed how close the person behind you is to your rear bumper? They remind us that our direction is forward. If you keep looking back, you just may be on the bumper of the car in front of you when that driver hits the brakes to avoid a frantic squirrel.

By quelling your desire to teach the other driver a lesson, you remember that it is never about the ‘other’ person’s driving behavior, rather, it is always about our own. The question to ask is: What’s in me, that makes that so irritating?

The person who weaves in and out of each lane, inching ahead of the other drivers is a metaphor for those goal-oriented ones who are willing to take unbelievable risks to reach their dreams. Do we have such focus?

Those that drive 5 miles under the speed limit – teach us the importance of following the rules.

Those that drive over the speed limit – remind us that when we move too fast toward our goals, we often won’t enjoy the journey.

Those that drive drunk and harm innocent people – teach us that there are consequences to every choice we make. We can blame everyone else, but ultimately, we are responsible for every action especially the act that ‘takes one for the road’.

When accidents do happen – it is amazing to think that one second on either side of it and the results would have been totally different – we remember that life is so very precious. We should not squander a moment.

When we get a flat tire – we learn that sometimes we need to allow perfect strangers to help us.

When traffic jams occur and there is absolutely no movement – we learn to look for alternative pathways. So it is when our dreams are seemingly clogged and there is no movement, perhaps we look for a different angle, a new direction, while focusing on the same destination.

On the way home from work, that same eventful two-honk day – the person behind me honked twice. I was reminded that what goes around, comes around.

Practice your spiritual principles in traffic – it’s what life is all about.