Day 1394: What drives us

Yesterday morning, I was driven to write a post about my first day of driving after my open heart surgery.

Soon after I drove that post into publication, I noticed my friend Eleanor was wearing a drivingly appropriate t-shirt while she and I were both driving our heart rates up at a cardiac rehab program:

For the rest of the day, I was a woman driven in many directions as I tried to make the drivingly best decision about whether to place a bid on a new home. It drove me crazy as I veered back and forth between “place the bid!” and “wait for another place!”

I don’t know about you, but when I am driven to make a drivingly important decision, I can be driven into paralysis, self-doubt, catastrophizing, polarizing ambivalence, fear, and other things that drive my self-confidence downward.

Why is it that one moment I am drivingly sure that a change is correct and the next moment I am as sure that it is NOT?

Here’s what helped drive me back into peace, yesterday.  Good friends let me know that I didn’t have to drive anywhere that I didn’t feel ready to go.  One of them drove a very helpful point home, with this text message:

I agree with Michael that there is no wrong answer!!! Also there are lots of wonderful houses that come on market every day so if you don’t put in an offer it’s not your only chance to move into a great place. These are things I tell myself when I’m worried about decisions/opportunities!

Here’s something that drives me: wanting the best for myself AND for other people , too.  Balancing my needs with other people’s needs is a driving goal for me, but sometimes it makes driving ahead complicated and challenging. As I drive myself to focus more on MY needs as the driving force behind my decision about placing a bid on the new home, here’s what’s driving my decision to pass on the house — its location is such that I would need to drive to get to stores, scenic areas, and other points of interest. Walking would be difficult because of the house’s location up in some hills. And in case I haven’t driven this point home throughout my blogging years — I am driven by my love of walking to interesting places.

Now that I’ve driven this point and this decision home, this woman driver now feels driven to include the other photos she was driven to capture yesterday:

 

 

I love that statue of U.S. Justice  Louis Brandeis, where he looks like he is driving forward against the wind.

Here‘s another driving song for you all:

 

I hope this post drives you to leave a comment.

Every day, I am driven to express gratitude to all those who help me drive along this highway of life, which — of course! — includes you.