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Two weekends ago, I decided to finally explore a little bit of this country in which I’ve been working for many, many moons.

And in order to do so, I rented a car and taught myself how to drive a stick shift. It sounds more daunting than it really was… really! =)

So, with a less-than-smooth start after picking up the car, I was on the road and speeding off into the unknown!

The little 5-speed manual Fiat Palio which got me to Bayahibe (and all the way east to Punta Cana) and back to Santo Domingo! =)

In three days, I managed to drive well over 500 kilometers and acquired an additional skill which I think I’d probably need if I were to ever seriously consider competing on The Amazing Race … =D

Anyway, my experiences driving stick led me to start thinking and were probably the root of some of the thoughts which I’ll try to spell out below… =)

Living Life is like Being a Car…

I’m sure that many, many people have come up with this analogy and there are plenty of quizzes online which can help you determine “What kind of car are you?”

And that probably has a lot to do with who we are, how we perceive ourselves and others, and how we approach this life… but this analogy could be taken to so many levels and this isn’t one that I want to focus too much on so I’ll just mention a few different types of cars  (mostly for pictures which are more fun than text =P)  that I think might describe certain people… =)

Honda Accord – The everyday “average” people who work hard, play hard, chase the American dream, and so on and so forth.

Dodge Grand Caravan – The soccer moms/dads of the world? =)

SMART – Small people with lots of energy that get high mpg and can squeeze in anywhere? (Haha, I don’t think I really thought this through too much…)

EV1 (Electric Vehicle) – Perhaps these are vegetarians and others who are more concerned about the earth’s resources?

Bugatti Veyron – High maintenance people! Supposedly this is the most expensive car on the road!

Corvette – People who enjoy the adrenaline rush of high speeds and open air (and warm weather)! =)

Hummer – Rugged people who like the great outdoors!

Ducati Motorcycle – Ok, not a car… but still works? Lone Ranger types who race around on their own!

Tank – Takes a little bit more to get them going but once they’re moving… unstoppable!

So granted that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different types of vehicles that one may be… I think that there’s something to be said about how living life is quite similar to being a car…

In a few bullet points, my thoughts on how living life (and running this Christian race) is like being a car:

• Every car is built with a specific purpose.
  • Just as God has a perfect purpose and plan for each of us…
• Every car requires fuel (whether it’s gasoline, diesel, electricity, ethanol, etc.)
  • We all need to eat (both physical and spiritual) foods to keep going…
• Every car requires maintenance service.
  • We need our regular R&R (or we’d all burn out pretty quickly) and accountability to keep us on the right track.
• Every car has a driver’s seat.
  • Who’s driving your life?
• The road isn’t always straight and smooth (wind, rain, snow, ice, sleet, fog, etc. all make for hazardous conditions).
  • Oftentimes, it’s unclear where we’re headed and it’s easy to get lost.. .
• Accidents (caused by potholes or collisions with other vehicles, etc.) can cause delays along the road of life.
  • Temptations and sin, if not avoided, could cause setbacks and delays in our growth.
• Every year, new models come out that are better, smarter, more efficient, have more gadgets, etc.
  • Umm… I guess I’m obsolete now… =P

But more than all of that, my experiences in learning to drive stick made me consider how “jerky” and inconsistent our lives can be even as we strive to live purposeful and God glorifying lives…

Perhaps, more than living life being like being a car… I meant to focus on my realization that driving stick shift seems to parallel the levels of discipline and focus in my day-to-day life.

I think that most people concur that in driving stick… the most difficult part is getting the car moving into first gear from a stopped position. Once you’re in first gear and moving smoothly along, it’s easy to shift into second gear, gain more speed and shift up all the way into the highest gear. As long as you continue to give the car gas, it’s pretty easy to cruise along at this point.

However, difficulties can arise when sharp turns/potholes/traffic or other hazards cause/require one to slow down. One needs to downshift in order not to kill the car… but at the same time, if speed drops to a stop… it’s possible that the vehicle might stall. And at this point, getting started again can be quite a jerky process for a novice driver.

So for almost the past 90 days, I’ve been tracking how well I’ve managed to be disciplined in three different areas:

• Daily Scripture Reading
• Exercise
• Studying for GMAT (note: only about 60 days)

The shaded grey areas above highlight those days that I may have not done some or all of my three daily tasks… At the beginning of the year, I think I was in 5th gear cruising along just fine… even though there might’ve been a day or two that I might’ve missed… these represented small speed bumps or other not-so-dangerous hazards that caused me to downshift but from which I quickly recovered and regained speed.

About halfway through though, I must’ve hit some kind of pothole or driven into severe traffic that caused me to slow down to the point of stalling… and getting back on track has been a rather jerky and sporadic process that saw some spurts that quickly died down.

In the past few days though, I think that I’ve managed to shift into first, then second gear… and am slowly ramping up again and rebuilding speed…

I used to think that being disciplined meant keeping things from becoming routine … but now I realize that there’s a great deal of discipline in even just maintaining certain routines…

Of course, I am wary of the possibility that I may just be doing some of these things just for the sake of being able to say that I’ve been doing so… but my desire is that I’ll be able to focus my energies such that I can glorify God through what I do and how I live…

Tomorrow, I’ll be renting another Fiat Palio (maybe the same one?) and heading back out to Bayahibe to continue exploring and enjoying God’s amazing creation while in the company of a close friend. Praying that He’ll keep teaching me even through all these little experiences!

God is good! =)