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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Speed Bumps & Potholes

Speed bumps have a way of slowing us down. Typically I see them in neighborhoods or around restaurants or schools. Sometimes they are HUGE and you really have to watch out for them or they could damage your vehicle. Sometimes they are smaller and they barely effect the traffic flow.

Potholes also slow us down; but unlike our ability to anticipate the speed bumps, potholes pop up quickly and without warning. You know when you've hit one because typically you're moving along at the speed limit (or a little above) and you feel the ground drop out from beneath a wheel (or two) and you are jarred senseless for a moment.

You can also dodge potholes. I've seen drivers nearly drive off the road in an attempt to miss the potholes that cover our city routinely. It's much harder to dodge speed bumps. I remember in one parking lot it became a challenge to try to hit the speed bumps right in the center where there was a space just wide enough for a small car to get through without going over the bump.

These two nuisances (to the average driver) remind me of our life on earth.
We hit speed bumps & potholes in life almost every day as well. Like the parking lots, the speed bumps in our life are also nearly impossible to avoid, even though we can SEE them and PLAN for them well in advance.

These are the bumps in life that are there to make us think before we act. If we don't choose to slow down, we feel the impact. It could be something as simple as the birth of a new child. You know it's going to happen (within plenty of time usually) and when it does, sometimes you are completely unprepared.

There are also the potholes...those unexpected, life-jarring moments that are sometimes painful, but you do move through them...like a small pothole of an accident or injury or a huge (seemingly insurmountable pothole) of losing someone we love.

I believe these speed bumps and potholes are part of our life to allow us time to prepare or heal. Sure you can avoid them altogether...if you never move forward, but that's not even living now...is it!

Remember to 'drive' carefully on the road AND in life!

3 comments:

Ben O. said...

Good advice - I actually think I lost my coffee hitting one of those beauties this morning.

Nice blog - found ya by surfing around.

Ben O.

Dawn said...

I just love how you can make such great analogies out of the simple things of life - a gift I wish I had. Good stuff!!

We have horrible potholes in our town because of all the water this winter. The grocery store parking lot is atrocious - the shopping center is owned by an absentee landlord who couldn't care less. Can you make a life lesson out of that for me, please??

Becky Wolfe said...

Excellent! I loved the way you tied it all in to life! Thanks for this reminder!