Part of my holiday fun is looking through old family photos and sharing stories about family members past and present. I was fortunate to know my grandfather for the first 14 years of my life. He was quite the colorful character. Among the many things he was and did, my grandpa was a racecar driver. And lucky for 12-year-old me, he was my first driving instructor. He taught me how to take curves on the inside and to turn the wheels in the opposite direction when sliding on a ice, gravel, or dirt. Those who have ridden with me may attest that I inherited his "need for speed." This is something that I can neither confirm nor deny.
With all this talk of racing and driving, why "shifting to neutral?" When a car is in neutral, the engine can still be running, pistons can still be firing (for internal combustion engines), but there is no power to the wheels. If you've ever taken your car to an automated carwash, you may know the experience. And so, when we "shift" ourselves into neutral, similar things can happen -- our own internal "engines" can be running, we are just giving ourselves a break from going anywhere.
With the holidays upon us, we can easily succumb to pressures to overspend, overdo, and overindulge. The time between Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the New Year holiday can feel like a stock car race to to some sort of artificial finish line with exhaustion as the prize. However, we can use the concept of shifting to neutral as a metaphor to take our foot off the accelerator of life and coast a little bit, giving us time to pause, #reframe, and to conserve our energies for the things and people most meaningful to us. Shifting to neutral allows us to time to check in with ourselves, making adjustments and corrections where necessary.
In the days and weeks ahead, I encourage you to shift yourself into neutral for a portion of each day, especially when faced with situations where you feel your internal engine becoming stressed or overheated. Hopefully, you'll accelerate out of the last holiday curve and cross the finish line of 2022 with newfound energy and joy.
Until next time, be well.
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