Recently, I had the opportunity to drive an automatic car. I hadn’t handled an automatic in ages, so I was a bit unsure and way out of my comfort zone. After a quick rundown on the basics to jog my memory, we were good to go.
Cruising through the Kruger National Park at a snail’s pace gave me all the time I needed to re-familiarize myself with the brake, figure out when to put it in Park, and locate Drive and Reverse.
The unexpected.
Out of the blue, I had to stop fast, and muscle memory went into action.
The car screeched to a sudden halt, we all got jerked forward in our seats. I had both my feet on the brake pedal, and that’s why we came to such an abrupt stop.
I immediately realised my mistake, yet I couldn’t convince my left leg to budge off the brake, even as we were all kind of slumped forward. Thankfully, no one got hurt, and it was more of a “whoa, what just happened?” moment.
As I tried to fix things, I was struck by how my head clearly and simply realized what had gone wrong, gave the message to my left foot to release, but my muscles point-blank refused. It had, after all been pressing that “clutch” to stop for the last 30 odd years!
It wasn’t until my muscles caught up with my brain’s lightning-fast realization that my body finally “got” what I needed to do to get us moving again.
This whole thing got me thinking. It’s kind of like how life throws curveballs at us, and we’re suddenly in this new situation or place. Our heads are all like, “Here’s how to fix it!” But our bodies? Well, they’ve been doing things their way for ages, and they’re not about to change their tune, even if the seatbelt’s all twisted up.
The takeaway?
I learned that I have to cut myself some slack and be patient. Letting my body catch up with my brain is pretty crucial, especially when things suddenly switch up on us.
The ultimate lesson however …
“if I want to move forward, I need to take my foot off the brake.”
If you are ready to take your foot off the brake, book your free Discovery session here https://calendly.com/marildawiegand/discovery-session
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