‘Stay in your own lane.’ How a car crash reminded this mom of what’s important in life

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“My husband and I have this standing date night. Every Thursday at 5:00 pm, the babysitter comes, and we leave for a little alone time.

A while back, we are having our date, just like normal – nothing fancy, nothing frilly, but as we are heading back home, we notice this long line of cars just stopped up ahead. We saw cop cars and flashing lights, but we still couldn’t figure out why everything was so backed up. Lanes were open, nothing major seemed to be happening, but nobody was moving forward.

Turns out, there had been a fender bender a little earlier. You couldn’t really even tell that any damage has been done. So…why the traffic? Why wasn’t everyone just driving through like normal?

And then we notice something, every driver had been slowing down so they could look over their shoulder and see what was going on over there. Every single driver needed to get the low-down on what was going on in the other lane.

And as they paid attention to everybody else, their own car stopped going forward.

How often do we act like this in our daily life? How often do we look over our shoulder to see what the person next to us is doing? How often do we let somebody else’s successes or failures stop us from seeing the road laid out ahead of us?

I mean, it’s pretty often, if we’re being honest.

Stop looking at your neighbor’s marriage. Stop looking at your friend’s career. Stop looking at the way that girl handles her business, how quickly her child is learning in school, her family, the fancy dinners she makes, her workout schedule, her involvement in the Junior League’s charity auction and using it as a gauge to evaluate your own personal success.

Stay in your own lane.

Keep your eyes on your own road.

Keep focusing on where you are going.

Comparison isn’t only the thief of joy, it’s also the first step towards insecurity, and insecurity is the thief of just about everything: your self-worth, your self-image, your relationships, your marriage, the way your children learn to value themselves.

Comparison is also the one sure way to stop yourself from moving forward, from moving anywhere really.

Just drive in your own car, honey. Full speed ahead.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Amy Weatherly. The article originally appeared here. Submit your story here, and be sure to subscribe to our best love stories here.

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