I used to drive a hatchback Mazda 3, it was my purple “zoom-zoom” and I loved it.

It was also the first car I ever bought for myself and I had it for almost 15 years. 

A couple of years before I sold it, I started noticing something different in the way it was breaking. It felt like it was taking longer for the car to fully stop when I was applying the same breaking force in the pedal. 

So, I decided to take it to the repair shop for a check.

But, before I was able to do that, I had to drive around the city. 

Where I used to be so comfortable driving my car, now I was not feeling so secure. I wasn’t fully trusting how it was behaving. 

I was driving and as a precaution, I was keeping extra distance in front of me, which is quite difficult to do because every driver thinks that is an extra space to fill up...

I was driving on the slower lanes and I kept slightly below the speed limit...and I am sure a bunch of drivers were thinking that I was one of those “Sunday drivers…” 

The funny thing was that I was being careful because of safety reasons but my thoughts were about what others would think about me...

It was very interesting because the situation actually reminded me of life itself and how I navigate through it.  

You see, you normally go through life as usual, you are on your own lane, minding your business, doing your thing…

You are behaving as you normally do and used to getting around as usual.

But then, one day, something changes, you do something different, you start changing the way you used to behave. You don’t do as you used to do anymore.

And, what happens most of the time? You start worrying about what others will be thinking about you. Your mind starts to wonder about what others might say.

You are changing your ways because you think is best for you, for your life, for your goals, but you worry that others might say something about it…

Have you experienced that before? Have you ever felt that way? 

You know that you are doing the right thing, but still… you worry about others’ opinions…

When I noticed that thought coming to my mind about others thinking that I was a “Sunday driver” I also quickly realized about the whole situation.

Thankfully, I didn’t cave into the pressure of driving faster and I focused on getting to my final destination safely.

Can you do the same when you feel the pressure from others to conform? Can you keep doing your thing without worrying about their opinion? Can you stay on course to get to your final goal?

Can you focus on the fact that only you know why you chose to do the things you do? Can you focus on the fact that others don’t know your story?

 Obviously, the drivers around me didn’t know why I was being that careful. They had no idea that it was a safety issue, all they cared about was that I was on their way. They were just interested on their own journey...

Just as in life, when others are judging you and giving you their opinion, most of the time they don’t know your full story. They only see a part of you, and most of the time they are only judging you based on their own story.

So, how about taking their opinion with a grain of salt? Think about what their motivations are before taking their advice or criticism. What’s their own story and background?

Another thing I realized when I was driving with the car like that was that I had to trust that everything would be alright. 

I did my part of keeping as safe as I could given the circumstances, but I also had to trust that nothing would happen.

I decided to focus on the fact that I would arrive safe to my destination, instead of obsessing about every possible accident that could happen…

Again, this is exactly what I think you need to do whenever you choose any course of action in life.

You need to make the decision and commit, you need to do your best once you made the choice, you need to keep at it with all your focus. You need to focus on the achievement of the goal and not on the possible failures. You need to keep trying and going on and when things are not under your control, you need to have faith. 

You need to have faith that you will be alright.

You need to have the same faith I had that I would get safely to my destination. 

Which, by the way, I did.

My purple car made it to the repair shop. I was able to check it out and thankfully discover that there was nothing wrong with it…

Maybe, the whole experience was just a teaching moment…

Maybe it was a way to tell me to stop worrying about what others might think…

Maybe it was just a way to remind me to keep doing my thing, to stay focus…

Maybe it was a reminder to keep focusing on what’s working instead on what is not working…

And maybe it was a way to remember that whatever it’s going on right now, I’ll be alright…

What do you think? Are you staying on your lane and forgetting about what others might say? Are you focused on your goals?

Share your thoughts below, I’d love to know!!!

xoxo,

Sofia