To the Left, To the Right

I was pulling out of a parking space and carefully looked to the left and the right as I started to inch out of the space. I always do it that way. My car is very low and it is hard to see around most vehicles parked on either side of me. It has served me well as I haven't hit anyone in a parking lot yet (knock on wood), unless you count high school. I drove my dad's car to school one day not long after receiving that most coveted privilege - the driver's license. It was a huge Chrysler and even though I am tall - 5"9" - I felt tiny in the front seat of that car. I pulled into a parking space, and the little perfectionist in me started to back up to pull in again perfectly parallel. It needed just a little straightening, I thought. When I backed up I tapped the VW bug (do they call them that anymore?) that was driving by. It just happened to be the high school driver education instructor. There wasn't any damage to either car but I was humiliated none the less - until I walked into the school. The driving instructor was not the most well liked teacher and I was a bit of a hero for a day as the story spread throughout the school. Maybe that is why I look so carefully from side to side now when I pull out of a space. I wish other people would. I always notice other drivers. It seems they are focused in only one direction. They have their eyes on a parking spot or a turn but forget to look the other way. Many times it is because they have their cell phone atached to one ear. But there's another story for another day.

In yoga class we always balance ourselves by repeating whatever pose we do for one side on the other. It makes sense in our heads and it makes sense for our body.

Check things out in both directions - whatever you are doing. You never know what you are missing that might be coming at you from the other side.