Hopefully each of us will come to a point where we will stay “enough.” So much of our lives is about being told that other priorities are more important than ours. The boss, the bank, the company, the government, our parents, our children, everyone else’s opinion and needs and desires require our attention and efforts. Yes, there are things we get from participating which may be necessary to our survival and may make us feel good in the moment. Helping someone else achieve their dreams or even their happiness in the moment gives us a good feeling depending on what’s involved. However….
One of the things I remember most about owning a VW Bus was some of the great advice from “How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive.” It’s the best common sense manual for VW owners even today. One of the things that has stayed with me is their perspective on driving. There is a very thin layer of flimsy metal between you and the rest of the world when you’re driving a bus because the engine is in the back. There are no airbags so in case of an accident, you’re pretty much an Aztec sacrifice. Drive accordingly.
Life is like driving a VW Bus. There aren’t airbags, there’s not a lot of cushion, the world is in your face (sometimes literally depending on your windshield status) and, no matter what you try, you are in the driver seat. You can drive where someone else wants, drive how they want you to, wear whatever they request that makes the journey more comfortable for them, but you’re the driver of your life. So if you’re taking the risk of driving, shouldn’t you be doing it for you instead of them? When are you no longer expendable? When are you the most important thing to you? If you’re eventually going to die (spoiler alert, we all are) shouldn’t your VW be covered in an amazing point job and stickers that show everywhere you went? Shouldn’t it have interesting stories to tell, marks of this, that, and the other amazing thing that happened? Shouldn’t it have miles on it because it went where you wanted it to go?
Today, challenge yourself to look at where you spend your time. If you aren’t spending the majority of it on you and making your life what you want it to be, isn’t time to start changing that?