When learning to drive a car, one of the most fundamental lessons you are taught is to view the steering wheel as if it were a clock, and place your hands at ten and two. Pretty basic. Pretty obvious. You’d think.
Unfortunately, many people fail to apply that lesson to the wider world. Keep your hands on your own steering wheel, not on someone else’s. Steer your own life. Don’t try to dictate to others what they should or should not do or say. Don’t try to fix the messes that you didn’t create, especially if the mess creator doesn’t think it’s a mess. Don’t try to think for someone else.
If you find yourself saying to someone, “Don’t be like that,” then you are trying to drive their metaphorical car. In my life, people have attempted to get me to be more girly or outgoing or turn me into a conservative, but nothing short of a sharp blow to the head would cause those things to happen. I marvel at the amount of energy that others have wasted in trying to get me to be someone that I am not.
Yes, it can be a little scary trying to navigate in a world where every person has his or her own route and destination. It may seem terribly random to you. But while you’re desperately trying to manage all the vehicles around you, you have to ask yourself, who’s driving yours?
The best way to maneuver through chaos is by keeping your eyes on your own route and doing the best that you can to get there safely. Let the other cars take care of themselves.
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