Give and Take

There was this once when I was driving, I saw a car trying to turn in from an illegal junction and usually, the ego in me wouldn't spare such driver from turning in. I stepped the oil paddle harder, accelerated faster so that he (or could be she, but I'll just refer as him for that matter) wouldn't over take me even if he is already this close from making that turn.

My mom, with her grumbling attitude as always, growled at me and said :" Look at the car! It was so close already, why can't you let him pass first?" I responded bitterly. "So? He's making an illegal turn, and it's my right to move forward!"

She shook her head, telling me that I was wrong. "Son, when you're on the road, you have to give and take. Think about the next time you're trying to make some very difficult turning and the traffic was so bad you couldn't do so, of course you'd be hoping for someone kind enough to spare you to cross that busy lane.

Her words were brief, yet powerful. It struck me immediately that I have been a selfish, self minded ego person, not only on the road, but in so many aspects of life as well. Give and take, how many of you actually practiced that in life? Imagine if you were the driver, you received a call from someone telling you that something bad happened. You needed to make an illegal turn and some inconsiderate driver just wouldn't let you do so. You became even more panic, driving recklessly so that you can beat the traffic and prevent that something bad from happening. But because of that selfish driver who took over you, you were late for 5 minutes, and there is nothing you could do. Picture any appropriate scenarios on your own.

Our mind is so accustomed to our own self centered mind, that we couldn't spare a second to think about others, or we just wouldn't bother. My mother advices were simple and brief, yet it left me something to ponder about, be it in life or when I'm on the road. Take and give, just like karma, it'll come back to you someday, it's just the matter of your perception, how are you willing to adjust it. I'll change my perception from now, I don't promise it could be done in a day or a minute, but I will at least learn to change from now.