***Driving Through Life Backwards

I have a neighbor, John, who turns his car around on the busy road in front of his house, causing traffic to slow down, and then backs up his driveway and into his garage. It’s an odd sight to watch. One day I asked him why he turns around and backs into the driveway rather than driving straight in.

John explained that he learned it from his father, who always complained that there wasn’t enough room to turn around in the driveway to drive straight out when leaving the house, so he preferred to back in and have his car headed in the right direction for the next time he left the house.

I mentioned that his father (who owned the house before him), had a long Lincoln Continental with no power steering, and that was the real problem. I went on to explain that he (John), drives a Toyota Corolla with power steering, and there was actually plenty of room for him to turn around in the driveway rather than in the street.

About a week later I saw John backing out of his driveway onto the road, which would now cause traffic to slow down every time he exited his driveway. He saw me and stopped to say hello. He said, “Thanks for the tip. You’re right. There is room to turn around in the driveway.”

The lesson I learned from this is that we can get caught in daily habits that make no sense, but we give them no second thought. He was now not only turning around in the road and backing into his driveway, he was now also turning around in his driveway and backing out into the road.

What foolish habits might be controlling your behavior, habits that make no sense and even cause problems in your life? What habits have you driving through life backwards? What habits have you feeling frustrated about how difficult everything seems to be?