My 120mph ride!

Yesterday was a first for something for me. I was behind the wheel of a car that went up to 120mph!! Yes, I am alive and well to write about it this morning.

I can see the comments now, ” Are you crazy?? What were you thinking??” Let me explain, and Mom and Dad you can get your hands off the phone and take a breath!

My car’s speedometer said I was going 120mph, but believe me I wasn’t going over 35mph! I do have a witness, my teenager was in the car with me. They were busy laughing at our gauges  going wacky. I was busy wondering if someone that I couldn’t see was messing with the gauges. Wondered what may happen if I took my hands off the wheel, for at one time it said I was going 0mph and I was moving at the time. Yes, yesterday was apparently the day for me to do the impossible!

I started my drive out with a half tank of gas. Well during this short drive that I took I really was doing the impossible. For not only was I going 120mph, but according to my gas gauge I was doing it on Empty! Then 2 minutes later I had a full tank! Wouldn’t that be nice if we could go from an empty tank to a full one without having to stop at the gas station?

All this crazy stuff happened during a 10 minute drive and then when I took another short drive last night it was fine. I don’t know, maybe somehow I was driving in The Twilight Zone without knowing it.

Whatever the case may be, it reminded me of how things aren’t always how they appear. Reminded me of that often used quote, ” Don’t judge a book by its cover” You really don’t know about a person until you get to know them. That quiet child in the corner who never answered the questions correctly that the teacher asked, may be a storehouse of knowledge. May be wiser then their years, but they don’t do well being put on the spot.

That co-worker of yours who is always smiling and bragging about the trips she took to far away places and telling about going out in the evenings to fancy restaurants, may just be going to those places in her mind. Perhaps she lives alone and every night is eating a microwaved TV dinner. Eating alone once more as she watches about exotic places on TV.  Her smiles may hide a thousand tears behind them.

The facts are that we simply don’t know. Too often we pass judgement only on what we see. We see a foreclosure sign go up in the neighbor’s yard. We think about how they must have spent their money foolishly. That they brought this upon themselves. How do we know that a family member didn’t run into critical health problems and that their money went towards that?  Things aren’t always as they appear. We don’t always have the full story, but we draw conclusions anyway.

Next time you are tempted to judge based on what you see, remember how even speedometers can be deceiving! Take time to get to know the details and you may be happily surprised at what you find out.

That quiet child may shine out of someone taking notice of him and pulling him out of his shell. That co-worker may turn out to be a wonderful, fun friend after someone takes the time to befriend her. Your neighbors may appreciate a listening ear and some words of encouragement, instead of being talked about behind their backs. Last of all that book that doesn’t look or sound too exciting by its cover may just unlock your mind to some wonderful adventures! It may be the book that you can’t put down, even though its 2am.

Now back to my car. I do think that I am safe in the conclusion that there is no invisible person messing with the gauges of my car. That this car may need to be headed to the garage. Then again this is the same vehicle that has mailboxes, signs, and sides of buildings jumping out at them. So who knows, maybe something else is causing my gauges to go wacky? Hmmm….