Out of Gear

The other morning I was driving out of our driveway.

As the car levelled out after rolling down the hill, I automatically pressed the petrol to move us forward. Distracted by the people in the car and my own thoughts, it took me a minute to realise that something wasn’t quite right.

The engine was revving, but we weren’t really moving forward. In fact, we were slowing down.

The moment my brain recognised that something was wrong, it snapped out of muscle memory and back into being present.

In a split second I realised I hadn’t put the car in gear at all.

We laughed and agreed that no matter how much petrol you give, if you’re not in gear, you aren’t going anywhere.

But afterwards, the moment stayed with me.

Because in that moment I was doing something I’ve done hundreds of times before. Something so familiar that I didn’t really need to think about it anymore. Except this time, I’d missed a step without even realising it.

It made me wonder how often we move through life like that.

Doing what we’ve always done. Following familiar patterns and routines without really being present in them. Running on autopilot until the warning signs become too obvious to ignore; the revs picking up while the movement slows down.

That moment when you realise that more effort isn’t actually moving you forward.

What struck me most was how quickly things shifted once I became aware of what was really happening. Not with panic or self-blame, but simply by becoming present enough to notice.

Something isn’t right.

Pause for a moment.
Look properly.
Adjust.
Then keep going.

It reminded me how important it is to move from awareness, to acceptance, to action when things go wrong. Not to stay stuck in frustration or embarrassment over missing the step, but to recognise what’s happening and respond to it.

And maybe that’s the real work sometimes. Learning to notice sooner.

To catch ourselves before we keep pouring energy into something that isn’t working. Before we keep revving harder while slowly losing momentum.

And perhaps also to trust ourselves a little more.

Because even though I slipped into autopilot and missed something obvious, once I became present enough to see what was really going on, I already knew how to fix it.