Have you ever had a serendipitous encounter while driving? Perhaps you didn’t have a specific destination, were curious to explore, or were driven by a spontaneous urge. I’ll never forget one night in 2015, when my best friend and I drove to downtown Los Angeles. It was a Friday evening, the air was crisp, and a serendipitous feeling enveloped me as we entered a tunnel. Suddenly, everything went dark, and we wondered what lay at the other end. In that moment, I found comfort in the present, embracing the uncertainty of not knowing what awaited us beyond the tunnel.
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Last year, I decided to take a sabbatical — a pause from the highway of life — and pulled over at a pit stop. As I sit and reflect, I watch the cars going by in each lane, each on their own journey.
In the fast lane, I see the cars striving and speeding toward their destinations, and I can’t help but see my younger self in them.
Watching the cars in the slow lane strikes me differently: some drivers have no choice but to drive slowly because of their old cars, while others seem unhurried, with time to spare.
The middle lane is the most fascinating to me. Cars drive at a modest pace, but the flexibility of this lane allows them to switch to either the fast or slow lanes, adapting to the ever-changing circumstances of the road.
This year, I choose to leave the pit stop — and I now consciously continue my journey in the slow lane. I carry the lessons learned by my past selves in the fast lane, and move forward, guided by the wisdom of my present self — still heading toward the same destination, but with greater intention and peace.