I finally did it!
I finally did something I’ve been dreading for a very long time!
The key was in the ignition and i was behind the wheel so in my mind, there was no turning back!
So I set off, phone in hand so I could hear the instructions from that woman on google maps. After
about a mile I started to miss my favourite radio station and thought of turning it on. But my smarter
self said no!
For some reason, I couldn’t think straight, I could hardly breathe and felt like I was doing my driving
test and that hi visibility vest clad guy was sat beside me, informing me of my next move. Well I
took a glance over to my left to see if he was sat there but he wasn’t. So I carried on going, not
sure if I had made the right decision to take this major leap of faith.
Oh, hold on! The lady was giving an instruction about what exit I should take next. But just as she
said “in two hundred feet….”, the phone in my hand rung! I jumped, cut the call off, and landed in
panic mode! Panic at the sound of the ring, the fact that I didn’t hear which exit to take, and also
because the incoming call had disabled my well set programmed instructions from google maps.
What should I do next? Calm it, I told myself, so I pulled over.
As there wasn’t much traffic and the car was parked, albeit in an unsafe place, I started to breathe.
And with the oxygen supply back to normal, I started to engage my brain in conversation with
myself which went something like this: “I told you you shouldn’t be doing this!”
“Just stop being negative and start acting rationally! If you never give it a go, you won’t know if you
can do it”.
“OK, so what are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know, but let me think”.
So I gathered myself as best as I could, took another puff of oxygen, and reset the phone with my
final destination. It had to be done! Well, no sooner had I put my indicator on and took off again,
feeling smug and a little bit more confident, the phone rang again, cutting off the instructions. I still
didn’t know which exit to take but I decided on the second exit as it was straight on, and in my
mind, it would be easier to find a spot to pull over.
Panic set in again and I prayed, “why did I ever think I could manage this,God?”
“Just control yourself, you’re a teacher, an adult, a mother, there’s someone all set and ready, waiting for you!”
The thought of someone waiting for me gave me a fright but also jolted me to get a move on. OK, there was something else to concentrate on now! Not only was someone waiting for me but I had to determine to cut any call off as soon as one tried to come in!
So again, I repositioned and reprogrammed and started off again. No, wait, a car is behind me. So I let it pass. Phone and steering wheel in hand, radio off, head and car in gear, I was determined to make a success of this my first ever attempt at following Google maps to find somewhere I considered ‘far’ from home.
Forty minutes later, I got to my destination, (legs a little cramped, maybe from lack of oxygen) and was as pleased as punch that I finally did it! Of course I didn’t let on that I had had much difficulties in getting there! I had a lovely two or three hours visiting with my friend and it was only then I remembered, I’d have to face that Google issue and distance driving again!
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