Going Along for the Ride

My almost three-year-old grandson loves to ride in my car. I don’t know what the attraction is for Nikolas, but it’s a big deal for him and I can never resist his “please, I go in Mama’s car?” especially when he flashes those adorable dimples. Nik has no idea where I’m going and he doesn’t really care as long as he can come along. But one day soon he will have some very concrete ideas about where he would like me to take him and eventually, he will be in the driver’s seat himself.

Thinking about that started me thinking about other things. Yes, I know, my train of thought takes many side trips.

I know people who are just going along for the ride. In life, I mean. These are the ones who simply let things happen, never making a quality decision to change their circumstances. They have no initiative. No motivation. Everything is too much effort.  You know them too. And have you ever noticed that these are the whiners, the complainers, the perpetual pity-partiers who live day after day exactly the same?

I am not one of those people.

But I am not one one of those people because I made a decision as a very young person that I was not going to be like everyone else. I decided I was not just going to go along for the ride – I would be the driver. I decided that the mind God had given me was worth developing. I decided that the word impossible really didn’t fit well into my vocabulary. I decided that failure was not an option, even though I might have to try a few times to get it right. I decided that when I made a mistake (and I’ve made my goodly share of them) I would learn from the experience so that I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. That lesson took a while to sink in!

Do you see what I’m getting at?

The decisions and choices are ours to make. We decide. We choose. Where we are at the end of the day is a result of what we have chosen to do or not to do.

Are you just going along for the ride?

Or is it time to take the wheel?