Toll times...forget about it. Wait in line, unbuckle my seat belt, open my door, sometimes have to get out, grab the ticket, resituate myself, buckle up and go, which apparently is too long of a process when people behind you have EZ pass tags. Paying the toll is even more fun. I gotta pull past the toll guy so he thinks I'm gonna make a run for it, then open my door and 180 it to pay him.
Four words...the bank drive thru. No longer quick and easy. In fact it's a pain in the ass and I might as well go park, and walk myself right into the bank to process my request. Oh did I mention my window controls decided to fail in the winter? (Yes, this is another one of those blogs I started and never finished.)
Anyway in thinking about all this, I realized how closing up our windows is sometimes similar to how many of us live our lives. Yes, our car still functions, but it is much more difficult to navigate our way through the roads of life. Sometimes we close off parts of ourselves when we are hurt, and we do this in many ways. Whether it be by numbing the pain through things like drugs, alcohol, eating, shopping, sex, or even working too much (this list could of course go on and on), or just as simply as refusing to do something again because you've been burned. The problem in dealing with situations like this is if we live in this way for too long, we forget what life is like with the windows down. We lose that feeling of the breeze flowing through our hair, the freedom of singing at the top of our lungs careless about who is watching, or the connecting exchange with the person next to us when you want to give directions or change lanes. In time, the path this takes us down is not a good one and we end up hopeless and feelingless, and then that becomes our norm. By the point we realize something is not right, and we all have felt that point whether we choose to admit it or not, we are so far into that way of life that we don't even know what is wrong or how to get back to that place of peace inside. So often we just continue the destructive cycle and lose the simple things that makes us human.
Since this post was written I did finally get my window master controls repaired. However, shortly after the rear passenger button has stopped working because children don't understand the concept of how water and electronics don't mix. And now whenever I invite someone in my car, they can not experience the freedom of rolling down the windows...unless I roll it down for them. Similarly, if your window is working, your job is not done. There are plenty of other people's windows that need to be rolled down. Sometimes it takes another person to show them the way and if you've got the controls, there's no one better for the job than you. Many times we don't realize what is going on when we are in the moment. The problem is always easier to see from another point of view. That's why it's so important to have someone close to you that you can trust at all times in life. We all need each other in this drive we call life.
So next time you roll down your car windows take a moment and think about the joy that it brings. Picture life as something that should be lived (the good and the bad, sunshine and rain) and not just another thing we have to make it through and deal with. Pause and think of your life and do an inventory of how you are living. Are you living it to the fullest or are you closing up your windows? Is there someone in your life that needs to be reminded of how having the windows down feels? Is there something preventing or making it difficult for you or another from letting go? Sometimes the way we choose to protect ourselves, is really the thing that ends up hurting us the most. In other words, more often than not, our greatest enemy is not situations happening to us or around us, but rather our own selves.
