DRIVING LESSONS
I am ashamed to say this, but it might be of comfort to someone who feels stuck. It took me more
than a decade of driving lessons, actually, to start driving on the road by myself.
In my defence, it was because of an accident that I caused in the first 2 weeks of my very first driving lesson, which I could never fully overcome.
I learned how to drive pretty quickly; my instructor called me a natural. I learned so fast that I was
allowed to drive on highways within days of my first lesson.
One day, tragedy struck. I was learning how to do a perfect reverse and ‘U-turn’ when I accidentally reversed into a gutter and had a piece of the gutter’s concrete destroyed by the car’s tyres. It was so bad that we had to get help to lift the car back on the road.
Thankfully, the car was unharmed, but my confidence- and ego was bitterly crushed. The biggest
mistake wasn’t driving backwards into a gutter; when the instructor asked me to continue driving, I
whispered three words: “No, I can’t”.
After bringing the car ‘out’ of the gutter, my driving instructor asked me if I wanted to drive home;
But I was still in shock and refused. That was my biggest mistake. That negative statement kept me
‘bound’; for over 10 years, during which I never got over my fear of the road after that seemingly minor accident.
Perhaps, if I had driven home that day, I would have gotten over it quickly, but I spent the drive home thinking about how I was a terrible driver and came to the conclusion that I would never be ‘good enough’ to drive…
I didn’t write this story to throw a pity party, so I’ll cut to the chase: many times we fall, we make
mistakes, but we choose to stay down and refuse to get up again.
We believe the lies of scorners, mockers and critics that probably would – and have made the
same mistakes they scorn us for. Rather than dusting our behinds and getting back up ‘behind the
wheel’, we take the back seat, sacrificing our goals and dreams in the name of playing it safe.
After my first child was born, I decided to try again. Call me crazy, call it bravado – or simply ‘cab-
fatigue; when my husband went on a trip, I decided to drive myself!
This was me who had gone to driving school and failed, taken lessons from various driving instructors and still didn’t have the courage to get back on the road, but one day, after carefully
studying the car’s gearbox and wondering what I was so afraid of, I strapped my baby in the back
seat and drove out by myself!
Yes, I almost got hit a couple of times, it took almost 30 minutes to reverse, and my ‘parking’ was
terrible, but I had finally overcome my fear of the road and risen above the lie that I would never be
able to drive. It has been many years driving on the road, and it’s been incredible!
Your biggest fear may not be driving; it may be marriage or relationships, starting a business or even being single. Although it is better to be alone than to be in an abusive, non-committed or toxic relationship, some people stay because of the fear that no one better will come along.
It is better to start a venture, fail and start over than to live with the regret of never trying at all. You
can do far more than what you are doing now.
There is so much treasure inside you destined to shine through, don’t let the shadow of lies, confrontation, challenges and fear stop you from shining, it is time to rise!
