For those who imagined, designed and built the first motorized vehicles you have to wonder what they would think of the freeways, rush hour and multileveled highways being navigated today. What would they have to say about the congestion and complex roadway systems that have built up over the last number of decades? How would they feel knowing their extraordinary technological innovation and advancements in the area of transportation have revolutionized our possibilities and opportunities but have also caused many to indulge in complaints about too much traffic and tiresome commutes.
We were returning from a vacation south of the border. The line-up of cars attempting to get through customs stretched for multiple city blocks. After sitting for about 15 minutes and moving a grand total of three car lengths we realized we were in for a patience-testing endurance event. At first we laughed about it, then became grateful we hadn't arrived 30 minutes later once we observed how much further the line-up now extended. As we inched along the roadway we discovered that while hundreds of cars were willing to wait their turn and move at the rate of all the other cars, some decided they shouldn't have to wait and so endeauvored to move ahead on side streets and force their way back into the line several blocks ahead.
Our family isn't likely to forget the face of a woman driving a silver SUV. She aggressively maneuvered her way in front of us and then we watched as she attempted to move into alternate rows whenever she felt a lane might be moving faster than the one she was in. While other drivers demonstrated patience and courteousness, she was outright aggressive. Her head poking out the driver's side window bopping back and forth as she looked for a car length advantage here and there would have been comical had it not been so sad.
Two hours and twenty minutes later we had made our way to the customs window and just a few moments after that we were back on the highway. We couldn't help but notice that the silver SUV and the driver so determined to get through before anybody else was now a couple of lanes to our leftand behind us.
It is sometimes difficult moving at the speed life demands of us. We often hear people lament that it moves too quickly and it's hard to keep up with everything. It is a legitimate feeling. But I wonder if sometimes the bigger problem is that we get impatient with things that move slowly. I know, sounds crazy right? Entirely improbable?
How many times have we wished some things were simply over? A regrettable event, difficult journey, or unexpected hardship stirs feelings in us of just wanting to get through--to be done with it--to move on. That's understandable. But there are some things we simply cannot find an express line to move through. There are no shortcuts to much of life's reality. It is tempting to look for ways to sidestep the pain or seek distractions to keep us from fully experiencing the emotions, but whatever distance we think we are putting between ourselves and the trial, unbidden emotion will find its way into our experience. We may think that if we can somehow deal with it more quickly, the harshness will be lessened, but the most difficult of human emotions cannot effectively be maneuvered around or bypassed. The same is true of the most enjoyable of human emotions. Introductions and acquaintanceships can be happen quickly but the richness of a relationship comes with time and the individual moments that build upon each other slowly and steadily.
There are no shortcuts to the most profound and important of human experiences, and we shouldn't look for an express route through any of them. To do so is to deny the fullness of what they mean to our lives. Because it is in the sum of the joy, the grief, the love, the heartache, health, sickness, happiness and sorrow that we find the deepest meaning in all we experience. So buckle up, pick a lane, know that the ride will in turn be heartbreaking and hilarious and remember that it will come at the pace it needs to. That's my outlook.
