I am a competent driver and I’m comfortable driving around our neighbourhood, and by neighbourhood I mean the general area around where we live.  I can get myself to all the grocery stores, several malls, IKEA, Costco, the kids’ house and so on.  I was a little reluctant to drive beyond those boundaries, feeling that I would be overwhelmed with the traffic and exits and such.  However, the need to go venture further afield has come up several times and I’ve met that challenge.

First of all, I had to get myself to the theatre in Surrey.  That was pretty easy.  I made Dale take me on the route before I had to go to the first audition.  We took several routes and decided on the best one.  So, that first evening, I got into the car, put the address into the GPS and headed off.  It was easy-peasy.  My confidence went up.  Later on I had to go to the Service Canada location in Port Coquitlam to get a new passport.  That office was closed because of water damage and the security guard gave me a paper with the addresses of other locations.  Again, I plugged an address into my GPS and off I went.  It too was easy-peasy.  Okay, I thought, I can do this.  And when challenges came up, like my usual routes were closed because of accidents or construction, I handled them.  However, those little adventures were not into the big city.

Yesterday I had to drive into Gastown to meet with one of Jordan’s friends.  Then I had to drive to Kits, do an errand and then go back to Gastown.  When all that was done, I had to drive home.  And you know what, I did it.  The traffic wasn’t all that bad and my GPS is wonderful.  It even tells me what lane I should be in and if a quick turn is coming up after the first turn.  It did take me down several roads I might have wanted to avoid in the lower east side, but that’s where Gastown is.  I felt quite proud of myself when I was on my way home.  And you know what, I am not afraid of any drive I might have to take in the future.  And why should I be?  With a GPS if I make a wrong turn it re-adjusts and gets me back on track. It tells me well in advance of a turn so I can get myself where I need to be on the road.  Most people are courteous drivers, allowing me in if I’m in the wrong lane and need to move over.  And if I sometimes have to wait until the less courteous people drive by, well, then I wait.  No big deal, I will get there.

That’s a big lesson in life.  We can all do more than we think we can do.  We can all push our boundaries and try new things.  And we should.  In fact, we must.  We might have to take small steps at first, but even small steps lead us forward.  We should not ever feel stuck in relationships, in jobs, in life.  If we do, we need to address that feeling and move on, one small step at a time.  And after a few small, faltering steps we gain confidence and take bigger steps and soon we are striding forward, to something new, to something different, to where we were meant to be.  We will run into obstacles along the way, but they can be overcome.  And we might just meet someone wonderful, going the same way we’re headed; someone to lean on and learn from.  That’s what it’s all about; living, learning, growing, trying, failing, moving on…the real circle of life.