Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Hello...

Today was a tiring day. Had work, and then had to rush down to meet Mr. Chua for my driving lesson. Driving was fun. For the first time, I learnt to negotiate my way on actual road, and it's only my 3rd lesson! Haha. So happy. Learnt about turning, making my way up and down slopes... etc... it was really cool. Jocelyn was really right. Once you start learning the practical side of driving, everything becomes really fun, and driving becomes addictive! Hehe...

On my way home, I reflected on my 3rd lesson and all, and I felt that life on itself is similar to driving. In what way? Here's what you have to do when you drive (at least up till lesson #3. =D )


1. Increase your speed gradually.

My dearest Mr. Chua reminded me constantly, that in order to travel smoothly, I have to release my clutch pedal slowly while tapping on the accelerator pedal lightly to maintain a constant acceleration at the start when moving off. If you release your clutch pedal suddenly, or step on ur accelerator pedal too hard, your engine will stall. And guess what, my engine stalled at least 4 times! All because I accelerated too quickly or released my clutch pedal too suddenly.

Lesson #1 in life: When you begin moving off in life, do not attempt to accelerate too quickly. Maintain a constant acceleration.Take for example, your exams are coming soon, and you really want to start studying. Don't study 8 hours a day from the start! Start with 1 hour... then progress to 2 hours, and so on. Otherwise, your "engine" will stall, and you will burn out in life.


2. When driving, look far ahead and ensure that you keep in lane.

Again, my driving instructor nagged me continuously on the need to steer my steering wheel while looking far ahead of me. He held my steering wheel and pulled it whenever I was drifting out of lane. So paiseh la... imagine the drivers behind me. They must be laughing their heads off seeing a car steering left, and right, instead of keeping in lane.

An old saying says, "People without a vision perish"! Do you see far in life? Can you visualise how your life is going to move ahead? If not, it is really hard to stay in lane with what your destiny lies ahead of you.

3. When a vehicle obstructs your lane (by travelling slowly), slow down behind him. However, if possible, overtake carefully.

Even though it was only my third lesson, I was already learning abit on overtaking as it just so happened that once or twice when I was driving, there was a vehicle in front of me that was either moving too slowly or was stopping.

Very often in life, there will always be people who are slower moving, and we should always be patience by always being "behind" him/her. (Haha. Get it?) However, when he is travelling too slowly, it is never wise to be always behind him forever. You will hinder your journey and may cause yourself to be delayed in your travelling to your destination. True, we must be merciful to slower "drivers". However, when we have to move on, we move on. Our final destination is more important than other "drivers" choosing to slow down in life.

4. Don't grip on your steering wheel or your gear lever too tightly. Hold them lightly but firmly.

This is the ultimate lesson I learnt from Mr. Chua today. He kept scolding me for gripping on my steering wheel so tightly that whenever he felt that I am drifting too far to one side and wanted to help me turn my steering wheel, he just couldn't cos' I held the steering wheel too tightly. He always told me to "relax...relax..." (I heard that word like 20 over times today le...). However, he says that we still have to hold the wheel firmly!

Life is like a balancing beam. Being too strict on yourself will only lead you to be inflexible, uncreative, and legalistic. On the other hand, by not being firm with the standards you carry in life, you are living a loose life, with no moral backbone or anything worth fighting for. You need to keep your life in balance.


okay. that's all for now. I hope my engrish is understandable. =D

tim.

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Posted by Timo-mo at 9:41 PM