People should read and follow the speed limit.
(Thought when someone in front of me is going “too slow”)
Is it true
Yes. It’s the law.
Can I absolutely know it is true?
I can’t know it would be better for me or them if they read and followed the speed limit. I can imagine that it might be better for them (and me) to drive slower under some circumstances.
How do I react when I believe that thought?
I get upset. Heart rate increases. I imagine that I am impatient. I start criticizing myself for being impatient. I judge myself for caring at all. I tell myself that I will be late. I start planning how I will explain why I am late. I stop noticing anything besides the back of the car in front of me and my anger and irritation. I spend a good deal of time wondering WHY this person isn’t going the speed limit. Can’t they read? Are they stupid? Are they lost? I tend to think that THEY ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION. (UB: People should pay attention.) I congratulate myself on driving the speed limit, and that sends me right back to not being able to imagine why anyone wouldn’t (even though there is evidence right in front of me that some people don’t). I recall some times when I have noticed that I am driving slower than the posted limit, and I tell myself that I am a hypocrite. I start feeling bad for the people behind me when I have been driving slowly. I wonder if they were angry with me.
Who would I be without the thought: “People should read and follow the speed limit” when I am behind someone who appears to not have read or be following the speed limit?
I’d be the woman driving the car behind the car. I’d be free to enjoy the ride. My mind would be free to play and roam. I would be calm and open.
(TA=Turn Around)
TA1
People should NOT read and follow the speed limit.
Truer. They should drive how they drive. How can I know how fast they should go? How can I even know how fast I should go except by noticing how fast I am going?
TA2
I should read and follow the speed limit.
Truer. I should read and follow the speed limit, which is the obvious speed of the person in front of me unless I have options (passing safely, taking a different route). I should read and follow my heart’s speed limit. When it begins to race I know I am arguing with reality.
TA3
I should NOT read and follow the speed limit.
True in that when I let what is printed on signs convincve me that there is something wrong with reality, I suffer.
TA4
I should read and follow my thinking.
Yes. I should take in my thinking, follow it, notice my thoughts, and question my thinking. “Following” my thinking with curiosity instead of chasing my thoughts with anger, judgment, and fear.
TA5
My thinking should read and follow the speed limit.
Not likely. And it doesn’t have to. Thought appears.
The Right Speed
