This is my thought for the day, born of my solid experience as a professional driver of Airport shuttle vans and Medical transportation vans equipped to carry people in wheelchairs.
The other day, I received the Law of the Garbage Truck from a friend and even though I never drove a taxi, or a garbage truck, I have, over time, developed the Law of the Road. I start by giving you the first, followed by my personal Law of the Road.
Law of the Garbage Truck
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off
for the airport.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!
The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so ... Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a garbage-free day!
"Faith is not believing God can, it is knowing that God will."
The Law of the Road
You cannot break the law of the road with impunity. Simply stated the law of the road is: You cannot get anywhere in life if you fight what the road gives you. Take what the road gives you and you will live longer, be happier and reach goals that you set for yourself when you first started on the journey.
It is similar to the law of the taxi driver quoted above. It is the law that serves as the source of peace and contentment of the professional driver. Even though the professional driver is constantly racing the clock, the road is impervious to the driver's goals. It is not that it constantly fights the driver, it is just that it offers what conditions will allow and nothing more. There are times when it accommodates the drivers with generosity extraordinaire. There are times when it is downright avaricious about what it gives. I have found that it awakes early and is of a better nature upon awaking than later in the day. The driver has to submit, because rebellion is useless.
One of the most frustrating moments in any professional driver's life is when an uninitiated passenger tries to goad the road into giving more than what it can, or will. It is a moment when the well disciplined driver maintains silence and hopes for the best, in the solid assurance that his patience in the plying of his skill will be sure to bring both him and his passenger to a good end.
I have been there. I am still here. There were a few times when if I had been driving a vehicle with another coat of paint, I would have met disaster. I learned a lot at the unforgiving school of the road.
From John Yots, dear friend of mine:
ReplyDeleteI worked on the garbage truck in our town when I was going to college and that was before they had the fancy trucks they have now. You use to have to lift the pails up over your head and dump the garbage in the truck. Some days the temperature was below zero which added to the challenge. Great experience that I will never forget and am proud to tell everyone about it. Once again I want to tell you that I am enjoying your daily emails.