Katie Paul

Gordon - English 101/102

P.3
9/7/15

Drive.
Sometimes, in the cover of night, I drive. I have no rhyme or reason to my
midnight outings, other than whim and a desire to be alone with my thoughts.
I travel down winding highways and narrow streets, with no destination or
purpose. My car radio remains silent, and the only sounds I'm left with are the tires
on the road and the occasional click click click of my turn signal.
During my most recent outing, I began to ponder. I thought about how
strange it was that our individual lives are almost as simple and methodical as the
rules of the road. For instance, Turn signals are a great way to indicate a disruption
in a normal pattern-- be it changing from lane to lane, passing fellow drivers, or
cutting across intersections. In driving, change is frequent and unavoidable. The
same applies to life change is often frequent and unavoidable. If you were to
travel in a single straight line down the road, eventually you would collide with
either an obstacle or a person.Generally speaking we avoid collisions with others,
we attempt together to each point on the road and in our lives as smoothly and
quickly as possible The same concept applies to the lives we lead if we merely
travel in one direction, we are going to slam into obstacles whose only purpose
seems to be to entangle us in a needless web of red tape and responsibility. Thats
why the turn signal is so invaluable. When properly used, we can alert others to
sudden changes we are about to make. Without it we are a maniac driver, bound for
trouble. If we alert others to change, we are well thought out and planned, if we
dontwe are maniacs, sporadic rampant around the world, with no chains to hold
us down.
Essentially, life is a highway, just as Rascal Flatts led us all to believe in the
early 2000's. As I drove down this long winding road in the dead of night, I
remember that I am at the wheel. There is no one to control or manipulate my
actions, and ultimately I am responsible for my final destination.
I continue to drive down this winding road of life, and I have few intentions of
slowing down. I will drive until the day that I run out of gas, wherever that
destination may be.