I was driving a few days ago and without going too much into the way people drive here in Israel I lost my patience once again with someone that clearly thought by the way he drove that he was the only one on the road. My horn went and a few colorful words too as I recovered my car from the ditch I had barely missed. A few miles along and once again someone else cut me off and didn’t even know it.
By this time you can imagine what I was feeling inside and to be honest if my car would have been equipped with a missile system I would have blown these two cars out of the road but unfortunately it isn’t…So there I am recovering from this last offense when suddenly Dad whispers to me the following:
“Is the way you react to these peoples driving the same way that you react to others when they don’t see or believe the same things you believe?”
As I heard this, scales fell from my eyes as I realized that without even knowing it the same reaction that plagued me when someone clearly was not able to drive as I thought they should, was the same way I some times saw others when they didn’t see what I see. Immediately I realized that perhaps they were not taught to drive properly, or that they are not as coordinated or able behind the wheel as they could be, or maybe they had a bad example while growing up and seeing their parents drive. One thing was clear to me that morning and that was that the way I react to what others think, do, or see says much more about my inner world than their inability to drive and see.
May we continue to spend more time observing life and others and less time judging and trying to fix them. As when we choose the judging and fixing the reality is that we only end up causing more pain within ourselves and others.
-pablo-
Photo by Consuelo Trevisan
