The Balancing Act

A jog down the memory lane to 9th August 2017. College has just begun. Start of the 5th Semester. A lot to look forward to. But the most exciting development is the new addition to our family's motorcade.

Hyundai Grand i10

Look at me. Quite visibly the novice driver. Trying to cautiously park the car. I had just gotten around to driving satisfactorily. But I had one chink in the armor. Probably still do.

I couldn't start the car by balancing the clutch and the accelerator. 

You might be thinking, isn't that what driving is all about!? But do hear me out. My driving school teacher had taught me how to handle the clutch so well that I never had to accelerate to start the car. This may seem absurd but if you are willing to test that fine line, it actually works, almost always. I had no problems getting through my driving test. But life is the biggest test of all, isn't it? 

Fast forward almost 2 years to July 2019. My scope of driving obviously increased. I have a full fledged job that requires me to drive through some slightly steep terrains everyday. Add to this the traffic converging on the commercial routes. I guess you now know where I am getting at. Every time the car came to a screeching halt on a steep road, I would be left anxious due to my want of skill. A couple of times, I have embarrassed myself in traffic jams, trying to start the car with just the clutch and failing miserably. 

Over time, I was getting better but I wasn't confident. I preferred the plateaus to the uphills. A couple of days ago, owing to the free time due to lock-down, I had a random train of thought going. It led me to think about my driving. It simply anguished me to think that I was limiting my driving experience, always fearful of every slope. So I decided to face this situation head on. 

I drove to GEC (Goenkars hit like!). The sprawling roads of GEC are a paradise for drivers (amateurs and experts alike). I ventured onto the steepest slope available. It intimidated me. Stared at it for a while. One favorable condition was that there was no traffic ahead or behind me, ready to honk horns. So I had ample time and composure; and I required all of it. For over an hour, I kept trying. Still not quite getting that divine balance probably immeasurable by the most sophisticated metrology. But, in an epiphany, I realized my fallacy. I was scared to leave the brake fearing the hypothetical unstoppable descent down the slope. That small fear of judgement had been haunting me for over a year now. 

It took me a leap of faith to leave that brake and put the pedal to the metal (both literal and proverbial) to roar up that slope and never look back again. With this new found ability:

I can now conquer the uphills and not stagnate at the plateaus.

I believe this holds true for life as well. The journey over the plateaus maybe easy but probably not as rewarding. Meaning, the worthwhile things in life will require you to put that extra effort. The balancing act of the clutch and the accelerator is a matter of skill. It propels you over the uphills. And that's where the beauty is!