Driving has always been a passion in my life. Today, it struck me that “the journey of our life” is almost like a drive on the highway. Where we are likely to be born we do not know and where we may die is not in our hands. But the journey in between is all in our hands.

Let us explore life. like our drive on a highway. Everyone who loves driving, may not plan for a trip all the time. Sometimes, we plan and at other times, we may take off ,without any destination in mind. Life is almost like that. Some things happen as planned while others may be called destiny in life.

We need to learn to enjoy life, the way it is ,rather then the way we want it to be. On the highway, we enjoy the stretches of the road where it is smooth and scenic. We feel like going on and on and suddenly there is a road accident and a traffic jam and we regret our decision to drive.

Life is no different. We may be enjoying every minute of the day, when things go our way and we are enjoying life ,as we celebrate some successes. But, when some things go the wrong way and we feel sad, we do want to experience it. Life is a total package. Some days are like gold and others may be like rusted iron but we have to learn to take ,both sides of life.

Another interesting aspect of the journey on the road is that ,you cannot always plan for the weather. It is bright and sunny and you have started your journey ,imagining great weather, right through your journey ,to your destination. However, somewhere on the way ,it starts raining and you are forced to slow down and time takes a different turn in your journey.

Life is also like that. There will be some days when you feel you are on top of the world ,after a promotion at work but then suddenly a crisis will dawn on you ,and you feel all the joy has suddenly vanished ,in your career.

Another interesting aspect of driving on the highway ,is to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Many a time, we seem to be in a hurry to reach our destination and do not enjoy the journey. There are hills, rivers and forests on the way and we do not seem to enjoy them ,as we are focused on reaching our destination on time.

Life is no different. Sometimes ,we are so focused on our goals in life that we may not be enjoying the journey. It is like having a child and focusing on the child’s future education. We sometimes ,may not spend enough time with the child ,to enjoy playing and growing up since our energies are focused only on educating the child to reach her goal.

Every journey in my car in my life so far ,has been a new discovery of life. Every person I met and every place I have visited along the way, has taught me life lessons. So is life. Every person you meet and every place you visit in life ,may teach you new lessons in life. It is up to to us to learn, unlearn and re learn ,as we discover the journey of life.

Let us discover life as we drive along.

S Ramesh Shankar

20th June 2023