Last updated on February 9th, 2013 at 01:30 pm
Life is never perfect.
Just when you think that your world is on Cloud 9, the worst thing can happen to rock your foundation. As a dreamer who is focused on Inspiring women around the world, my greatest dream lesson is to learn from whatever life sends my way — no matter how extreme.
Remember: you are always in control of your destiny
This past week my husband and I were victims of a “Road Rage” incident. You may have heard many stories of how people get angry in traffic and they get out of their car to inflict pain on another driver. This is exactly what happened to us.
We were driving in morning traffic, which is extremely crowded at peak hours. We were entering a main road from our residential area with cars passing each other. It’s usually just common courtesy for drivers to give the right-away to every opposite car coming in from a side road.
But in our case, this driver did not want to allow us entry on to the main road. All I can remember is my husband trying to move slowly into the road and this driver speeding behind us and knocking cars from the road. Cars stopped and we observed only scratches on our car, but the other car had a damaged mirror.
He angrily stormed towards our car and began to kick the car door with so much fury that I stared at my husband as he just remained calm. I think the shock of someone actually getting out of their car and damaging our property was enough to leave us speechless. And here we were with our 15 month old daughter in the car.
My husband allowed the man to curse and kick the car until he felt he had made enough damage. I could see how my husband was working it all out in his head. My husband, Aslam, is a calm soul and a true gentlemen. But I really thought even this was enough to push him over the edge. When the man man walked back to his vehicle, Aslam calmly drove away.
I, on the other hand, was in shock.
I remember the dialogue in the car:
“Are you seriously going to leave it like that?”
Aslam just replied, “He isn’t worth my energy and once we allow the negative thoughts to take over, our whole day will be negative, I have an important presentation to give and I’m flying to present to our National Government, I really don’t have time for this. Let’s just think positive and get through this day.”
“I can’t believe you are letting him go!”
By the time I realized I hadn’t managed to memorize the driver’s registered number plate, it was too late and we arrived at my daughter’s Creche destination.
Our drivers door would not open from the damage and there was nothing we could do at that moment. I was furious. I felt like I had actually let this silly man get away with this while Aslam kept his cool.
All the way home I felt like a victim. I hated it. I secretly could not stop admiring Aslam’s calmness. He was okay with it. Deep inside I really thought my husband was losing it (no offense my love). Who allows another person to cause damage to their car? I began to see that his actions were not a sign of passiveness, but a sign of inner strength and mental authority over his own thoughts and actions.
It made me realize that there are times in our lives when people do us wrong and we have the choice to decide if we want to jump on an emotional band-wagon, saying whatever is on our mind and raging at the world. The things we say may leave to bigger arguments and possibly something beyond our control.
How many of us just decide to be still and think? How many dreamers learn the dream lesson?
Life will always be full of “waves” while achieving your dreams. The road to your dreams is never easy, but what is important is that we remain open to dream lessons along the way. Embrace any negatives and allow yourself to be strong in the center of adversity. You are stronger than what you think you are, you just won’t know how strong until you practice self-control.
This week my dream lesson was to remain calm and turn a tragedy into triumph.
To see challenge as an opportunity to rise above circumstances. Live life to it’s fullest and embrace all that comes while on this dream journey.
And to not let anyone knock you off your dream journey. EVER.
Sincerely,
Sue
Sue Levy is the founder of the South African Just Pursue It Blog and Inspirational Women Initiative. She’s a motivational writer and media designer, who is obsessed with everything inspirational with a hint of geek. She thrives on teaching women how to be brave and take big chances on themselves. You can find Sue on her Twitter page @Sue_Levy.
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