DANGER ON BOARD
I am suffering with a relatively new disorder. Have you heard of this? The minute my seatbelt is strapped on, my phone climbs up to my ear like a magnet. It’s a strange phenomenon and I hate to tell you, but I’m actually not the only one. Think: epidemic proportions.
So, I’m driven to distraction (literally). Nod to the potential physical danger. But from my perspective, there is another danger that is more subtle but no less vital to our well-being.
Jim Morrison said, “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel”. Well, it’s not that easy, Jim. It will require talking back to the voice that says, if you don’t call this person now, you won’t have time to call them ever. The one that says “I’m just multitasking”. Yoga asks us to focus our minds. Discipline our thoughts. Joy might just be around the next corner. But if we’re half focusing on driving, and half focusing on phoning, then there is a good chance we’ll fly right by it.
We can talk on the phone while we drive. But we miss an opportunity. An opportunity to deepen our patience. I don’t know about you but I could use all the patience I can get. An opportunity to be free not to respond to another email. An opportunity to check out the people in the next car (ahem…). An opportunity to relax our grip on the steering wheel, to release the tension in our feet, to just be open to the open road.
Rilke writes that no feeling is final. Totally. In fact, no nothing is final. If we’re never going to pass this same road again, why not be totally open to it now? Melt away distractions and focus that beautiful mind of yours. And if Mr. Morrison were a yogi, he might even add, “And keep your hearts wide open. Let it roll, baby, roll”.
See you on the road my friends.