Nearing the top of my list of “Least Favorite Things in Life” is traffic and the stress that it brings me.  It is one of the reasons I moved back to Winchester from Northern Virginia.  I didn’t think I could sustain a blood pressure reading of 230 over 120 for too much longer.  I have a lot of friends that can deal with this kind of traffic and my hat is off to them.  I, unfortunately, cannot.

And it’s not just bumper-to-bumper gridlock traffic either.  All it takes is one solitary vehicle to get my heart racing.  Such was the case last week when a young man in an old Ford pickup truck felt the need to tailgate me.  I gave him all the classic warning signals that I didn’t appreciate being followed so closely.  I slowed down and then sped up.  I pretended to adjust the rearview mirror so he knew that I was watching him.  Nothing worked.  I found myself even more annoyed with this driver because I could see that he was having a very animated conversation on his cell phone.

Mustering up all the maturity I could, I decided the best course of action was obviously to speed up and then slam on the brakes.  This full-proof plan was sure to teach him a lesson about tailgating.  And what was the worst that could happen?  He’d swerve on to the shoulder of the road and realize the error of his ways.  Win-win!

So I pressed down on the gas pedal, not taking my eyes off of Mr. Cell Phone, whose bumper was still about a foot away from mine.  I continued to increase speed and pull away from the vehicle.  It was almost time to pump the breaks, when I decided I should probably look forward again.  It was at that moment when I realized that the car in front of me had come to a sudden stop and I was seconds away from barreling into the back of it.  I immediately jerked the steering wheel to the right and spun on to the unfinished shoulder of the street.

As I sat on the side of the road wishing I had a paper bag in which to hyperventilate, the car in front of me continued on…followed by the truck that had been behind me.  I took a few moments to compose myself and reflect on what had just happened before I drove again.  I had been so focused on what was behind me that I had completely neglected to concentrate on what was in front of me…and it almost cost me dearly.

But isn’t this just a microcosm of our lives?  How many times do we dwell in the past, and in the process, lose sight of what’s ahead of us?  How often do we revisit the failures and mistakes we’ve made instead of realizing just how bright our future actually is?

It’s important to use the rearview mirror to recognize, from time to time, where we’ve been.  But it’s even more important to keep our eyes on the road ahead of us.  There is a reason that the windshield on your car is much larger than your rearview mirror.