Look Where You Want to Go
Here’s the blog I’m dedicating to Sly.
I loathe “Reality T.V.“ From it’s tenuous grasp on reality to the puffed up ego monsters that tend to be attracted as stars for their hideous 15 minutes of fame, to the ridiculous assumptions that I have to watch and I have to have an opinion about people and events I couldn’t care less over.
I do, however, love Canada’s Worst Driver and Canada’s Worst Handyman. The latter because I’m likely a prospective wretched renovator, and the former because I see nothing but relevance in the show for each and every driver on our roads.
I consider myself an above average driver, which is not surprising because we ALL would call ourselves above average in our driving skills. The difference is I am comfortable driving in vehicles ranging from subcompacts to three ton grain trucks, automatic or standard transmission vehicles, with or without trailers - the trailer empty or filled with dirt, grain, furniture or a small combine.
There are skills featured on CWD that I would desperately love to try. I could really learn something from the Eye of the Needle and I have never attempted a Reverse Flick but I think I could gain much from that level of intuitive knowledge of weight transfer between your wheels. Until I get proper instruction at a track where it’s completely safe, I’ll probably never attempt it.
There are skills you can try every single time you get behind a wheel. For instance, can you drive in a straight line? In a real straight line? Can you drive in a straight line with a curve in the middle? Can you perform an S-turn? Can you do one intuitively, without thinking?
These are skills that are essential for good driving. They don’t require special equipment. They don’t require a tunnel made from styrofoam cutouts. You only need to turn your brain on, then pay attention to the road and your driving.
The number one rule of driving - at least according to CWD - is look where you want to go. They can’t say it enough, they can’t teach it enough, it can’t be emphasized and shared too much. Look where you want to go.
You drive towards where you look, you react towards where you’re looking, you are only observing the hazards where you are looking. When you drive, you must look where you want to go. It doesn’t mean tunnel vision - you have to be aware of your entire environment. However your eyes need to be primarily upon your target and you will head towards where you’re focused.
So last week, one of CWD7’s drivers, Sly, noticed a great insight. “You know, I think that’s an analogy for life. ‘Look where you want to go. Look where you want to go.‘ My gosh. One of those things that the Dalai Lama would probably say.”
He’s right. It’s more than just driving. “Look where you want to go.“ “Keep your eyes on the ball.“ “Keep your target in sight.“ “Keep your goals in front of you.“ We say the same thing constantly in so many ways.
We, as human beings, need a direction. We are best when we’re striving, we are most accomplished while achieving specific goals.
You can’t be a good driver if you’re not looking where you want to go. Can you be a good person when you wander through life without focus?
However, life isn’t just one success after another. We have failures, we take tangents, we go down wrong roads and sometimes travel in the wrong direction. We have to recognize the whole of the environment around ourselves. Success comes down to focusing those experiences into lessons that eventually guide us toward our goals.
I’m trying harder to apply it every day.
Look where you want to go. Travel with confidence. Stay calm when things don’t smoothly go your way. Tenaciously practice and improve your skills and abilities. Never stop learning.
Now that’s reality.