The Most Important Lesson I Learned in Driver's Ed

It's sophomore year of high school and I'm enthralled to finally be learning how to drive (legally), I buckled up and the driver's ed instructor began telling me where to go. All was going fine until the moment we went through a short, yet terrifying, cattle shoot. I was sure I was going to die (or at least end up scraping off one side of the car) and I clenched onto the steering wheel sitting up like a little old lady trying to get as close to the windshield as humanly possible.

But then came some of the most profound wisdom I carry with me to this day: "Don't focus on where you don't want to be. Focus on where you DO want to be. Wherever your sight goes, the rest of you follows." I sat back, focused on the middle of my side of the road, and to this day, I remember that lesson not only while driving, but in the rest of my life. I thought of it during my weekly visit with my father. As I was thoughtfully chewing on a french fry considering all the potential pitfalls of moving, I realized that was counter productive; if I focus on failure and obstacles, that's what I will find. So, again with the brain retrain, I'm teaching myself to focus on opportunities and possibilities for joy instead of every possible thing that could go wrong.