The Gift Table

Speed bumps don’t mean stop! If you’ve completed your driver’s education training, you probably know this little fact. However, this simple driving fact has huge life lessons, too. For instance, the speed bump’s key messages are:
1. “Slow down or I’ll make you wish you had!”
2. “Since you are driving slower, please take a moment to see why.”
3. “A school may be in session near you.”
4. “Increased perception may save yours’ or someone else’s life

If you are unsure of what a speed bump looks like, speed bumps look like:
· Financial crisis
· Deaths in the family
· Job losses
· Illnesses
· Lost love
· Relationship changes
· Conflict (internal/external)
· Debt

These are all familiar speed bumps along life’s roadway. These speed bumps can stop us cold in our tracks! These are big scary life events, which we must overcome or suffer the fate of living forever frozen or controlled by these life events. Stopping on a speed bump may make sense in the moment, because you want the discomfort of the bumpy ride to stop. However, it doesn’t allow you to:

1. Apply knowledge or perception gained while slowed on the road of life
2. Get out of harm’s way (traffic is still moving around you)
3. Keep moving toward your destination and life’s fulfillment
4. Find life’s nourishing experiences that will help you see and navigate future road bumps

Experience tells us to heed the speed bump sign and the physical bump’s message, or else. Let’s be wise drivers along life’s road way. When you approach your next speed bump:
· Slow down
· Reflect on your road conditions (job loss, lost love, debt, etc.)
· Be on the lookout for solutions in your problem (contacts, resources, etc.)
· Carefully ease over your bump – get help, if you need it or simply run out of fuel
· Gently accelerate towards your life’s fulfilling destination

The next time life throws you a speed bump, you’ll know its true purpose, which is to momentarily slow your travel, realize school is in session, and explore your solutions in the problem. It’s not where you’ll stop. It is generally a slow start to a new beginning.