Shifting Gears

I have one more week of Class A driving school left before the big drive test at the DMV. I'm a little nervous but that is natural. Failing the test is not even a concern, I got it in the bag. But a week ago I could not have even considered taking the test. My double clutching was more like double grinding.

And you know what? It's been like that for every kind of standard vehicle I've tried to drive. For instance, I had a 1974 Kawasaki Z-1. That bike had 83hp, 4 cylinders, and the gosh darndest clutch. You either stalled it or smoked the rear tire. It took me about 3 weeks to master that clutch. It was quite the adventure in traffic till then believe me! And that ole '56 Ford with 3 on the tree and mosquito fogging motor was what I learned to drive as a youngster, as did my older syblings. I was surprised it still had teeth on the gears by the time my turn to learn arrived. And all the farm equipment, county dump trucks, various hot rods, and small economic cars since then helped me master standard shifts.

But you know, I still grind em every now and again. I still stall at the most dumbest of times. It's part of the territory. I have those OC moments (O Crap) yet. That stuff don't bother me any more. Now it may bother whoever is behind me but that's their problem, right? When I do those things it's because I lost concentration and focus for just a moment not because I'm still trying to get all the coordination down. I slip it in gear, put that I meant to do that expression on my face and drive on!

It's kinda like learning how to lose those pounds and live a healthy life style. There are gonna be lots of OC moments, especially starting out. You can't expect to give up all those goodies without your body rebelling. It wants to eat bon bons and drink 44oz cokes. Come on! But keep the focus. Enjoy the stalls and grinding when it happens. But don't do it too often. Soon you'll have it down like white on rice. Natural.

Believe me, there's nothing like mastering the size and complexity of driving a big rig, unless, of course, it's mastering the old self. The one that got you to where you are today. Life is meant to be enjoyed. Now, go learn how to do that with less weight.