Merge Ahead

I was driving through Charlottesville today and lamanting the local difficulty with merging. I'm not sure if it is the concept that people find difficult or just the actual practice of it. I know, I know...the merge lanes on 250 are short, visibility can be bad...I get it. This article is not actually about local driving practices. It is, however, about the importance of merging and what it might mean when we have trouble "merging" in our lives.

It takes timing to merge. Too fast and you can find yourself on someone else's tailpipe slamming on your breaks. Too slow and you'll wind up parked on the shoulder of the road. Too often we are either driving as fast as we can to meet deadlines and obligations or stuck in neutral avoiding those same deadlines and obligations. To merge in life we need to become sensitive to the timing both in and around us. Are we giving ourselves the emotional and physical fuel that is necessary when we need to speed up a bit in life? Do we know when to slow down and not micro-manage a situation? Just like the short merge lanes on St. Rt. 250 in Charlottesville, we feel like we have to make a quick decision: slam on the breaks or push the gas to the floor. At some point as drivers, however, we must learn to trust our skills and trust our judgement as drivers and make that move. So it is in life: trust yourself to know what you need and what you have to give to a situation. And then ease on the gas and merge.