Over a year ago I wrote an article in my monthly newsletter, The Front Porch, titled "Taking It To The Limit." It was a very simple focus on the importance of setting healthy limits in our life. I simply decided to pass on some advice my brother, Steve, had always talked about … the importance of the discipline of driving the speed limit. It a piece of advice that I have discussed with many others in the field of professional counseling. And there seemed to be unanimous consensus on the systemic importance of this every-minute decision while we are driving. I have never received such a big response from any article than I did from that one. Some of the responses, I think, were an outpouring of guilt … and the others were from a place of "I just can’t help myself when it comes to edging over the limit." I was thinking about it again today as I was driving home from the gym. I had just had a great workout and in my cool-down ride home was feeling quite relaxed … driving the speed limit in the right lane. It was a hot day, but I decided to drive with all of my windows down. It made the noise of the speeding cars and motor cycles all the more pronounced as the passed me by. They were positioning themselves lane to lane as I watching out in the increasing distance. They would have quickly gone out of sight had the traffic light in front of us not turned red. While driving the limit, it wasn’t long before I sat waiting behind them. I knew this wait for them was far more stressful … and longer! As I sat at that light I had a flashback to when I first got my driver’s license. Back then almost everyone knew the speed limit meant something … and they honored it. I also remembered a friend of mine, from Johannesburg South Africa, visiting the USA and reflecting on what an organized society we lived in. He noted that the laws actually meant something. Today, with a worldwide media, we get a glimpse of what societies look like when they are not organized. It makes me wonder if we are creeping in that direction. It won’t happen overnight. It happens slowly as a society no longer respects the laws of the land … and each other. If I challenged you to drive the speed limit for the next month, you might respond as so many did to my earlier article on the topic … "please ask me to try anything but to drive the speed limit." Hmmm. Must have hit a hot button. I have no doubt on this one … most will likely hit the snooze button and just keep on flying by. I look forward to seeing you again … at the red light! And when I do, I won’t be judging your driving choices. You will just be reminding me to listen for the alarms going off in my own life … where I am not honoring the limits. And hopefully inspiring me to make the changes I need to make to enjoy the ride all the more. Happy Driving!
