I am a born and bred New Yorker, so being an aggressive driver seems to come with the territory. But I am also a consistent driver. When I get on the highway, I typically use cruise control and change lanes as many times as necessary to pass slower vehicles, but no more. My pet peeve is when a driver speeds up to pass someone else, only to slow down immediately after the pass.
Yesterday, as I was driving back from SeaTac Airport, on the I-5 north at about 11 pm, I saw a car speed up to dangerously tailgate another car. The other car wisely moved to the right lane. The car that sped up inexplicably slowed down in the left lane and did not pass. As I pulled even with the car, I noticed that the driver was talking on the phone. Besides feeling annoyed at the driver for doing something dangerous and aggravating, I wondered what I could learn from the episode. We just finished the High Holiday season, and it was inspiring. We started with Rosh Hashana, reconnecting with G-d. Then on Yom Kippur, we reconnected with our inner selves. We united with the Jewish community and nation over Sukkot, and for the grand finale which took place on Simchat Torah, we danced joyfully and ecstatically, celebrating our gift which is the Torah. We are all energized and motivated, driving in the fast lane, ready to pass any and all difficult hurdles and challenges that life will throw at us this year. Then we get distracted by something small and seemingly insignificant, and that can cause us to dangerously crash and burn or lose sight of our destination. Let us not be those people. Let us use our “drive” to reach our destination using consistent growth, making this year our most successful and fulfilling one yet.
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