Collision Course

Apparently, auto fatalities in the U.S. are way up. That makes sense, since there are more cars on the road than ever; but most collisions can be blamed on distracted drivers. Everybody’s calling, texting, and generally losing their cool…while driving. 

This makes me wonder: if we can’t be trusted behind the wheel of a car, then how are we caring for the complex vehicle that is our human body? Are we this reckless about our mental and physical safety when we’re not on the road?

Emotional eruptions are usually blamed on the other guy– someone’s testing our patience, or the world’s going nuts– but our reactions are on us, not them. We hit back out of self-importance. We insist we’re right. We want to assert our personal power on someone else. 

We all want to feel more powerful, but we have some very odd ideas about what that means. I’ve brought this subject up this before, I know; but reconsider your relationship to power. You may think power comes down to physical intimidation. Maybe you want to control certain situations, or certain people. Maybe you think rage is your superpower, when it actually reveals the depths of your fear. 

A tantrum, as any five-year old knows, is how the weak assert their power. Emotional drama is considered an alpha move. Silent suffering is a sneaky bid for attention. Withholding love is an act of aggression. Does any of that sound reasonable to you? Is it the way you want to walk through the world?

Pay attention to your preferred instruments of power– your voice, your intellect, your self-righteousness. Most of us have felt the power of an easy lie, or a casual accusation. How about you? Are you pointing fingers, making assumptions, taking everything personally…and spreading poison the process? 

I’m saying all this because I, too, feel the temptation to get caught up in the crazy. Like you, I know better, so I reflect and adjust my point of view. We often forget the power of compassion. We feel the urge to go too fast and care too little. We don’t take time to listen, or to learn important lessons from our own actions and responses.

Human history shows us that arguments between nations are usually resolved through warfare; but wars begin in the minds of individuals. A grudge, a story of injustice, sparks one person’s imagination and catches fire. As the fire spreads, communities turn against each other. Conflicts grow and create more conflicts. 

When moods are hostile, messages of love are twisted into justifications for hate. Superstitions escalate into harmful ideologies. Humans set themselves on a collision course with other humans– and boom! The world is thrown into darkness. 

We can stop wars where they begin– by silencing the voices in our heads. We can scrub the poison out of our system, because we want to. Did you ever feel so powerless that you had to bully, badger, and weaken the spirit of someone close to you? It’s what people do…until they choose not to. 

It only takes an instant to feel the power of an honest realization. It takes just a wisp of awareness to choose love over self-importance. When you have that little bit of awareness, you don’t go against yourself. You avoid high-speed collisions, for the sake of your human being.

Remember that your body is your first love, your greatest love. It responds to everything you think and believe. Why would you risk running it off a cliff? Just try to be more attentive as you drive this human vehicle. Listen to your inner ranting. Recognize your triggers. Expose your self-deceptions, and laugh them out of existence. 

Transcend those ‘powerful’ arguments that put you in conflict with other humans. They’re not the truth.  Moreover, they’ll make a wreck of your dream. They’ll make a wreck out of you. And I, for one, believe you deserve better.

💙 B.E.