[Wanna download the pdf version to this blog? Just click right here and read some now and some later. Just click and it’s yours =)] Embrace the traffic on the freeway! Whaaattt? Allow me to explain myself by telling you about my Thursday morning! I was literally sitting still in traffic on the 91 freeway and feeling real anxious about it. I had to travel quite a distance knowing the travel time could be severely multiplied because I was using the 91 and 605 freeways (You have to know Southern Cali to understand). I wanted to leave an hour earlier than I did so I was already feeling late even though I still had about 90mins to get there, find parking, and find where I was supposed to be. I was just so worried I would be late and miss the opportunity altogether. When I recognized what was happening I told myself “Melanie let’s sit back, calm down, don’t complain and just *sigh* take a deep breath.” As my anxiety decreased I asked myself what do I need to learn from this and thus, this post was born ;) Why am I stopped? It’s so irritating to be in stand still traffic and not know the reason why. It’s something like life. Those moments we feel stagnant and don’t know why we are sitting still we think, “seriously, what’s the issue?! I have places to be!” We become anxious and begin to think the worse. “Maybe I’m not good enough to do this”, “because of this delay I will never make it”, “maybe I should be doing something else and this wasn’t God telling me to go this route” etc. All these maybes cause a diminished self-concept, stress, and anxiety that is not necessary. To this I say: Always trying to figure it out ey?—STOP that! I started to come up with scenarios to figure out why I was stopped: - Well I am at the 91 and 710 interchange…as I pass I’m like oh nah that ain’t it. - Maybe there is an accident…not at all That was becoming frustrating because every great scenario was shot down and I was back at square one. More whys. All my reasoning filled up my mind leaving no room for God to intervene! There is a difference between asking God to show you what you need to get out of a situation and being so stuck on finding out WHY that you miss WHAT he is doing. Why do they get to move so quickly??? Don’t worry about it, stay in your lane lest you cause an accident! We constantly compare our progress to those around us. We feel fine and dandy when we are moving at a steady forward pace but let us be still and someone pass by us. We looking like wait what? Tell you about that carpool lane! Man they were speeding! They were going so fast and I just wanted to be apart of it lol. I started coveting what they had because I know how awesome that must have felt. I mean I have been in that position before, why not now!? I even thought about jumping over myself, which I never do because I know I would be the one to get pulled over and have to pay an outrageous fine I can’t afford. Even though I saw everybody else do it I’ve learned to stop jumping off of bridges after fools! So I remained still. The risks were too high. We have to learn to apply this to other areas of our lives as well! We also have to realize there is a reason we are standing still! The people in the carpool lane were going at least 65 and these dummies were merging (jumping) in the carpool lane literally going THREE!!! They made the people who were clear to go have to pump their breaks so that they didn’t slam into the back of them! Like seriously do you want to be that person who ruins someone else’s green light just because you were so ready to go? Now yall are both out of line and it’s your fault. Lol, stay in your lane even if it’s standing still! Why didn’t they get caught?! As I cringed, laughed, and became disgusted from all the people crossing over into the carpool lane a police crossed over about 5 cars behind me. I started thinking about all the people that missed the ticket. Most of us would be thinking, “wait why didn’t they get caught?” God’s response would probably be “mind ya business.” Do yourself a favor and understand that just because we don’t see the consequences of people’s actions doesn’t mean there are none. Sometimes we get so discouraged doing right because we see so many people do wrong while still living lavishly and comfortably…to the naked eye. We have no clue their level of conviction or what is happening in private. You just make sure you stay in your lane so that you don’t have to deal with any negative consequences publicly or privately. Why must I be riding solo today?! As I saw how many of us weren’t moving I thought why is it that I can’t be in the other lane that is going quicker? Why is it that I don’t have someone in the car with me so I can ride carpool? Sometimes you have no choice but to ride solo but it doesn’t mean you are the only one on solo missions in traffic. Let me normalize this for you, we all go through mess/delays/traffic in our lives! It sucks but it happens. Instead of whining about what we don’t have praise God for what we do and let’s figure out what we need to learn so we don’t have to be there forever. Don’t get mad if you start moving and them brake lights light up again! After taking me 15minutes to go 3.5 miles I was so happy to be going 40 you have no idea. As I saw the brake lights light up again all I could think was “here we go again” and all the anxious thoughts and why me questions resurfaced. Just because you live life by the book doesn’t mean it will be an easy ride. Shoot it might be more opposition because you do! We all are going to experience stop and go traffic in life, once again sit back and let God tell you what he needs you to learn. Life is like a race. In races pit stops can be a good thing. Fuel, new tires, repairs and whatever else they do for racecar drivers during that time are waiting on you lol. Embrace them! Let God fill you up, dump what you don’t need on this leg of the trip, add what you do, and keep it pushin with more rev in your engine. But that can only happen if you don’t spend that time pouting and open up to receive these things. Why didn’t you pray first? Often times we let situations overtake us and don’t even think about praying. We have to stop trying to change or deal with things alone! If we know he can help, why is he always the last one we call? Wait on him I prayed for the accident that might have been and that if it wasn’t and accident that God would clear the way for all those ready to move forward. I coulda been real upset that it didn’t happen right away. All the cars did NOT move to the right or left like I hoped. But *tuh* we all can’t get what we want when we want. Not because we don’t deserve it but because it might not be time! Those pit stops could be life, dream, job, or relationship savers!
Even though I had to stop and go quite a bit on the freeway it eventually opened up and I made it on time. Those pit stops weren’t meant to kill me but if I didn’t get it together I would have let them. Sounds dramatic I know lol. But it’s true. Don’t allow stuff that is sent to make you stronger take you out because of your impatience! What I realized Thursday morning while on the freeway is something I need to apply to my life and all my endeavors. I will get to my destination in time because I believe it is what God wants me to do. And YOU will get there in due time as well, especially if it is what God wants you to do. Embrace the traffic, learn from it, and move forward as designated by him! Have a great week!!! Did you notice there are no bible verses?! That’s because I will address them all in the daily devotion section, check me out over there all this week! Topic: Everything dealing with our traffic experiences! |
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