Driving Well #1

This might be as much about our wonderful body as it is about driving a vehicle.

Imagine yourself driving in a heavy rain on a busy road. The wipers are on fast, the trucks drown you when they are near or ahead of you, you can't see well, and your shoulders, arms and hands are tense. You notice that when you glance at a truck that is at the side of your car the car, seemingly on its own volition, swerves toward the truck, so you avoid looking, but that worries you too. Now there's a big truck on either side of you. You see them, you feel them, you try really hard not to glance at them, but how do you know what they are doing if you don't? Then, for some reason, you look at one of the white lines that define your lane. Your eys follow the white line up ahead as far as you can see it, and you stay focused on it. You notice that your car steadies itself in the center of your lane. You become aware that you have both trucks in your peripheral vision and you can tell they are staying steadily in their lane as well. Your shoulder and arm muscles relax a little. Then you glance at one of the trucks, and your car moves quickly toward that truck. You quickly look back at the white line and your car moves back to the center of the lane as if under its own power. Now you stay focused on the white line and you relax again. You approach a curve but you stay focused on the white line, you can see that both trucks are steady in their lane, your car moves steadily around the curve, staying centered in your lane. Now you feel confident enough that you speed up a little and pull ahead of the trucks. (To be continued)