"Road Love"
OK, it's not what you think. This isn't something you did in college on a date. I'm talking about that thing that happens when drivers are kind to each other. That good feeling knowing that a bad situation was made good, by a total stranger. It occurred to me that this modern event has no name. Sure, we have all heard the term "road rage" many times, but we rarely discuss it's positive, and beautiful polar opposite, road love. Go ahead, enjoy it. Pass it on. Let that guy in front of you on the freeway. Wave that girl across the street while you wait. This phenomenon may be one of our last basic interactions of goodness with total strangers.
A four-way stop, four cars all stop at once. People are waiting to cross the street. One driver figures someone should be first, so he starts to roll out. At that same moment the driver to his left starts to go too. They both jab the brakes and then it happens, the hands come out the windows and.........wave! That's right, one gestures with a wave, as to say "you go first", and the other returns with a flat palm as to say, "OK then, and thank you." They drive on. I love these moments. They remind me that most humans are good people, and that good things happen all the time. People are mostly kind and mostly loving, even on the road.
People working hard to be good to each other is something we would all like to see. No one is perfect, I mean, we all have our moments. But the important thing is that we all try, as good people, to be good to each other. Karma is often talked about as being a personal merit scorecard that is used to determine if we are lucky, or unlucky. That may or may not be true. But, sometimes karma is a little more literal and logical. If faced with that moment of truth, in traffic, or in a yoga pose, or in life, we may choose to be patient and kind. Likely we will get through feeling good about it. We may choose to be hasty and aggressive, and to force our way though it, but sooner or later, we crash.
Take the time to practice. If we practice staying calm, aware, positive, and strong in yoga, we will be able to do the same in life. Drive happy.
