Be the Driver

The cars we drive have one driver and the rest of the seats are for the passengers. There are people in life who like driving and people who like to simply sit in the passenger seat. While not everyone prefers to drive their cars, everyone should desire to be in the driver’s seat of their own lives. When we are in the driver’s seat of our lives we can determine the direction, the speed we go, where our final destination is, and the pitstops we make along the way. The ability to have control over our lives makes every goal or idea more easily obtainable. When we take the wheel of our own lives we are deciding to create our life rather than simply live it.

A big part of driving our own life is understanding what in our life we can control. Once we understand what we unequivocally control we are able to react in more appropriate ways to external circumstances that enter our lives. This understanding enables us to move on and keep the gas pedal down when things do not go exactly as planned. Additionally, by having an understanding of what we can control in our lives we are able to make decisions that yield positive returns to our lives and set us up for greater success with our pursuits. With these understandings in mind, we are able to search for via trials and internal dialogue, what exactly in life we want to do. We are able to find out what we want to be remembered for and what sort of passions we truly have. As we follow our passions we are cultivating our individual lives to be filled with purpose.

Driving our own lives with a destination of purpose and passion is a journey we are not necessarily able to begin if someone else is leading our decisions. If we are playing a sport because our parents want to live their dreams through us, that is not necessarily a path with a happy ending. The same can be said for the career we pursue. If we are attempting to become a doctor, lawyer, or any sort of professional because it is “expected” from those around us, we are asking for an accident to happen. To avoid any sort of accident we should look internally to find out what internally motivates us and identify ways to shape our lives around these aspects. If you are in an unfortunate situation where your support system is “driving” your life, you need to have a difficult conversation to take the wheel back, it will only benefit you in the long run. Not everyone needs to like driving a car to have the ability or desire to drive their own lives. Start the journey, from the driver’s seat, and set your eyes on a destination, far, far away.