Slamming on the brakes

We’ve all sent up a prayer of thanks or breathed a sigh of relief when our car did not plow into the vehicle in front of us. Not long ago I did just that one morning driving to work on the Eisenhower Expressway. I was doubly thankful when I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the driver behind me had pulled over to the shoulder. Often we never learn the reason for the chain reaction, and we are simply glad when everyone can stop holding tight to the steering wheel and move forward again.

As a driver, it is something outside our car, like a dog running across the road or the stopped car ahead that makes us slam on the brakes. In other areas of our lives, it is usually something internal that triggers an alert to the need for such an action. Unfortunately, we usually ignore the signs and continue moving. We remain in a relationship or continue taking a project in one direction. When needing comfort or to fill the boredom, we shop, or eat or drink, or turn to electronic distractions. We do what we can to numb our feelings, escape our situation, fill our time. We cause our own chain reaction. Day after day, night after night, we stay on autopilot on the same road, even when our brain and our common sense tell us to slam on the brakes. Our instinct, our habits, our fear tell us to keep moving, even knowing we are going in a circle. Outsiders call it self-destructive. We call it self-preservation.

Collectively we have allowed others to slam on the brakes on equality, justice and doing what is right. While we may be touched by the picture of a 5-year old being carried from the rubble, disturbed by flooding in one city and fires in another, mostly we are numb to images and stories. We may go as far as writing a check or clicking a button to donate, but we’ve come to believe the situations are too complex for any solutions.

When I say ‘we,’ I’m describing my reactions most of the time, but I think many of you are in the same lane with me. We have forgotten that ‘we, the people’ are in the driver’s seat and it’s time to get moving forward, not circling the same block. Let’s take our feet off the brakes.

Marilyn