It's not uncommon in life for time to overtake your sense of reality. It sweeps over you like a crisp, autumn morning while you sit unprepared without a sweater. Couldn't there be a simple tick tock of a booming grandfather clock to wake you from your trace and make you aware of the time you're wasting? It seems that thought the world continues to spin the clocks all continue to tick, I somehow find myself stopped.
It's funny when you think of a stop sign; bold and red, standing out against the stark black pavement as you drive from here to there. They pop up every 2 minutes, sometimes more, as we journey from location to location. But to stop means to come to an end; ceasing to happen. If this is true, how is it that our journey always continues?
Think about it. Are you someone who slowly decelerates hundreds of feet before actually reaching the bright red alert then, without fully jolting the car into a complete stop, roll through the intersection? Do you continue accelerating until moments before it seems you'll cross the line then slam on the brakes, risking whiplash to any passengers who's company you pleasantly entertain? Do you notice the sign but simply stare ahead, surveying the scene, glancing in your rearview to ease the panic of any flashing lights, and if you sense no danger manage to glide easily past the four bold letters S-T-O-P without giving it another thought?
Or do you somehow manage to miss the sign altogether? Oblivious to any goings on around you. "Where exactly was I going again?" you quietly mumble to yourself as you manage to remember that you are behind the wheel of a 3,000 pound moving machine. It is the law to know the law and all the rules of the road; to have no mental or physical ailments when climbing into your choice of how to get from point A to point B. So how in the world am I still alive? This is how I've been feeling recently. This is why I've stopped. If ever there was a time to notice my ailments, it's now. But there's so many questions I feel are unanswered and I don't feel safe behind the wheel of my life.
How is it that in life, with more laws than the road has and heavier hearts than any 3,000+ pound machine, that there is no Set rule book? No test that someone gives to tell you if you are ready to take on the challenges and conditions of the road in life? Why aren't the warning signs bigger? And why don't we instantly obey even the smallest precautions given to us so that we could have the chance of lowering our risk to next to nothing?
These thoughts have fluttered through my head so many times. The above are all valid questions. However, with some reflection I've come to realize, most of them have already been answered time and time again. We do have a rule book. It's called the book of mormon and other sources of gospel insight. We also have sources that are constantly updating the rule book so we are never presented with new obstacles that have no kind of consequence or solution. They're called latter day prophets. We did take a test. Before we ever turned the corner and saw the road that lay ahead, in Heaven, we were told exactly what this life would entail and because you and I are here reading this now, we passed the greatest test. A test that required strength and patience; even tears. Warning signs are everywhere. They always have been and always will be. Every time we listen to the words of the gospel or search for a new piece of knowledge, we learn of a new warning or rule that will help us be safer on this journey.
So I suppose life can be like driving on the real roads out there in numerous circumstances and conditions. For some it was easy to learn how to take the wheel and navigate from one place to another. For others even gripping the steering wheel is a tough thing to do. Different roads have different rules; different lives have different paths.
Learn to drive. Follow the rules. Believe you can. Take to the road.