How Fast Does Your Car Go?
Last weekend my daughters, grandson and I went to see the latest MCU offering Fantastic Four. I enjoyed it. The decision to go was sort of spur of the moment. I told the girls I would meet them there cause I needed to wash and vacuum my car and make another stop. Even though we left at almost the same time we arrived at the same time. They didn’t need to make a stop, but I guess I was driving faster than I should or I hit all the traffic lights perfectly. (Probably driving fast).
So, walking into the theater one of my daughters asked, “How fast does your car go?” As in, what’s the top speed on the speedometer? I thought about it and said, “I don’t know. I think it just shows what speed I’m going.” I never really thought about it before so I checked after the movie on the way home. And the display, along side showing what speed I’m currently going, shows the current time, current speed limit, current mileage, and current miles left before an empty tank. It doesn’t actually show the top speed of the car. It’s all digital. Analog cars may show top speed being 130mph or 160mph, but mine just displays the current speed.
It kinda gave me an a-ha moment.
We all want to be better, do better, be more. We have goals, five-year plans, and strategies to get there. We want to know and increase whatever limits we have. We want to break glass ceilings, succeed, win. There’s nothing really wrong with that - but we could be missing out on the here and now. We could be dismissing our current speed by thinking about how fast we can go.
I believe what’s going on here and now, what’s current, is maybe even more important than what’s ahead in the future.
I’m reminded of that when I see the smile on my granddaughter’s face as she’s playing and I‘m tempted to open TikTok and doom scroll. I’m reminded of that when my grandson says, “Pawpaw, do you wanna play police and bad guys with me?” when I’m just stressing about what my day’s going to be like tomorrow.
I don’t know how fast my car can go but I know what speed I’m going when driving. And I don’t think I should focus so much on what’s ahead in the future that I can’t control, but rather enjoy the current day and moment. There’s a smile to enjoy. There’s a game to be played.
