Las Vegas traffic is crazy on the major expressways during the rush hours. I would too often have appointments and try my best to rush the rush hour. I would switch lanes often and sneak in front of cars expecting them to stop if I got my nose in place then ignore their honking or hand motions. Sometimes it worked and I would make the right decision at the right time and float on by those who missed the open slot or the faster lane. Just as often it wouldn’t work and I would watch that semi-truck I was following get farther and farther ahead in the other lane. In frustration I would search for a gap, leap into it only to watch the lane I just left speed on past me as I slowed to a stop. I would growl and lean back into my seat to control my temper. Such is life in big city traffic.
I was coming home from a meeting this week and found myself on the expressway at 2:30 pm. I was in a dead stop but I didn’t even notice. I had a book on CD playing in my truck as I drove and it was good. It had me drawn into the story and hanging on every word. I simply watched the car in front of me in the slow lane and enjoyed the ride. Suddenly a small, luxury, convertible slipped into the small space between me and the car I was following. I had to hit the breaks to avoid an accident and just as quickly the car swerved into the next lane, passed another car, swerved two cars in front of me, and was gone. Probably late to a meeting or something and I thought to myself that it’s silly to get so behind that you have to drive that aggressively in rush hour traffic … wait … hmmm. Change the sports car to a small truck and that would have been me.
What was the difference? The difference was the story. I was captured by the story and I really didn’t care about getting to where I was getting a few minutes quicker. I was captured by the story. I heard a speech the other day and I found myself drifting until … the story, then my attention was full. The best songs have the story that captures you. It’s the story. What is your story? Are you spending your life living it, writing it, or swerving around it?