Life is a Highway.. and I screamed the whole way down.

     Yesterday marked the very first time I drove on the highway. It was an accident, and I screamed the entire way through, but I did it.. twice. (Both occasions were accidental) Now, I think I'll awkwardly morph this into a metaphor for life. 

    My roommate and I were on our way to Target. Because I'm direction-ally challenged and can get nowhere without the help of my GPS, I asked her to pull hers up and lead us there. Unfortunately, the fact that my GPS is set to avoid highways slipped my mind. It went a little like this: "Wait, is this the highway? IS THIS THE HIGHWAY?!" That's when I screamed a lot. On the way back, I had grown from the experience and used my GPS to get us home. That growth didn't prevent me from taking a wrong turn and ending back up on the highway. This experience went similarly. 

    Once safe on the moderately slow-driven roads, I took inventory of what had just happened. I realized a few things: 

1. My driving instructor may have been a bit generous in giving me my license when she did. 

2. I hate driving on the highway.

2. Whether you're prepared for it or not, life is gonna throw some crazy at you. Sometimes you just have to scream your way through it. 

    I hear a lot that life will prepare you for the struggles that you go through. That's what my mom always told me. Sorry, mom. I think you might be wrong on this one. I think life does prepare you for some things- just not everything. Like, for example, a trip down an unknown highway for the very first time after dark. Life doesn't always prepare you for that. 

    But I'm starting to understand that might be okay. I'm alive, aren't I? I definitely made a memory, and I might even be a little less terrified the next time I unwittingly drive onto 80/94. I've always joked that my mantra is "fake it till you make it." But when it comes down to it, isn't that what we all do? It's certainly what I do. You just have to try a little, and act like everything is fine till it is. 

    You can scream on the inside all you want, just tell yourself you know what you're doing on the outside. I screamed like it might be my last day inside my car, but from the outside all you could see was a beat up Toyota drifting into its lane like everyone else. And you know what? I made it- all the way to Target to spend money unnecessarily and all the way back. 

    Life is a highway. So just make sure your seat belt's on, your mirror's adjusted, and you can scream the whole way through.