My car has reactive, “intelligent” cruise control, the purpose of which is to keep me from rear-ending slower cars should if I fail to pay attention. It senses other cars, and automatically slows my speed to match theirs. Pretty cool, huh? But, the other day I was cruising along, listening to music and not paying attention to my speed because I had the cruise control on. There were a row of cars ahead in my lane, and my cruise control properly matched their speed. However I suddenly realized that, I was now doing 63 in a 70 MPH zone because that was the speed of the other cars. When I became aware of my inordinately slow pace, I of course changed lanes and sped up to my desired speed. (Only 70 of course. Right?)
It made me wonder how often I have done that in my life. You know, gone along with the crowd matching their lives instead of consciously determining what I wanted to accomplish. Their course may be great for them but not necessarily the way I wanted to live.
This got me thinking, do others find themselves in a similar situations? Setting their work, relationships, and life goals on cruise control. Going along with the crowd, instead of intentionally deciding what was right and best for themselves.
Making the decision to change lanes isn’t easy or comfortable (after all, a little extra petal to the metal requires more gasoline), but if you decide your destination is more important, it’s worth the effort.