Pot Holes

Should you care about your vehicle’s suspension…driving on back roads can be a bit tedious and slow going as you attempt to dodge the pot holes and stay out of the deep ruts. Often, it is possible to maneuver yourself around and miss most of them, but sometimes there’s so many that no matter which way you go, inevitably you have to hit some. Trying to go over them quickly risks significant damage to the vehicle - not to mention whatever body parts of your own get jostled around as you charge through! In the moment, it may even seem that we made it out scott-free but often we later discover (perhaps days or weeks down the road), that actually something did break and we end up at the repair shop with an expensive bill. The best way to avoid such things and make it through these patches fairly unscathed is to just go slowly. It’s important to continue to move forward so you don’t get stuck in there, but go slow enough so that you can feel the gentle drop of the front tires as they dip and come up and then wait for the same to happen with the rear, in and back out. As you do this and feel the motion of the car, you may also learn some valuable tips and tricks you can use next time. Perhaps something about the approach or the best way to angle as you go through. You may choose to enlist the help of others travelling the road with a consult to determine the best route - or just to provide a bit of cheering. Sometimes the roads can be rutted out, looking more like the track at a car wash or oil change shop than a road. Here, it is possible to keep yourself out of the ruts as long as you focus on where you want to go, feel where your tires are at, and carefully steer to avoid the pull down into the rut. Navigating these dirt roads seems a bit like navigating life sometimes, don’t you think?

Life has pot holes too and sometimes no matter what you “could” have done or “should” have done, you’re going to hit some, and it’s not going to feel great. Try to speed through and you’ll perhaps end up with a bit more collateral damage than planned. Just like that expensive bill from the repair shop, whatever happened to us down there will wait for us to acknowledge it and can end up popping up later in our lives as a physical or emotional toll. But when you can take the time to feel whatever you’re feeling, get help if you need it and encourage yourself to slowly keep moving forward, you’ll find you’ll get outta that pot hole in no time and with the least amount of damage. You’ll also have learned something for the next time, perhaps something about your outlook or just the value that comes with the wisdom of knowing that nothing lasts forever. It might make for a smoother ride next time or help you dodge a big one down the road. So when you end up in a pot hole, always keep moving but also take the time to feel and learn, don’t just charge through with the pieces flying off as you go.

Now for those ruts in the road. They are a bit like our bad habits, there’s the tendency to get sucked in and then there’s the difficult task of trying to get out. But just like on the dirt roads, when we can see and acknowledge the ruts are there, we are able to consciously resist them, making corrections or getting advice and support when we feel the pull. We can focus on the end goal and we can make it through. We’ll get over that desire and out of that rough patch to the other side much sooner than when we don’t acknowledge the struggle and instead just try to bump and thrash in and out as we plough through.

Driving the dirt roads has also taught me another lesson to keep in mind when the pot holes seem big and plentiful: Though slow going and difficult, usually those particularly rough roads, where few travel, tend to lead to pretty amazing places. The road in becomes part of the adventure and the rewards on the other side are so worth it in the end!