Speedy Gonzales is dead. Or at least my inner Speedy Gonzales is.
His death was no accident, although the way I used to tear up and down the motorway one would think it had all ended horribly wrong with a head-on collision. Which of course it did, of sorts.
I am a very good driver – most passengers used to confirm this whether verbally or by simply not using the virtual foot brake that was installed for front seat passenger use. I didn’t always try to fill Speedy Gonzales’ driving shoes. I would say there was a time in my life when I was, for the most part, a responsible young driver. Driving a 3-speed ’65 Ford Mustang didn’t give me much of an option.
And then I moved to the UK… open roads and a 70mph speed limit that really was 80mph, so I viewed speeding as only taking place if I was driving over 90mph. Once I got used to driving on the right, I felt as free as a bird! I took a page out of its book (the bird’s book), and started flying. Flying down the motorway at top speed was so liberating and it made me feel invincible. The faster the better!
Or so I thought. Pondering the impact driving under such intense tension had on my body horrifies me now. The stress I put my body under took a huge toll on my health and wellbeing, let alone that of my fellow motorway drivers. And it was reflected back to me in the lengthy delays and horrendous, standstill traffic that I used to literally drive myself into.
I wasn’t an obviously rude driver who flipped other drivers off – I let my speed do that for me, leaving a trail of destructive superiority in my wake. The feeling it left me with was goooood – I was on top of the world! Until it wore off that is, which it didn’t get much of a chance to do as somehow the motorways had become a convenient friend and I found myself driving them on a regular basis. Funny that.
After my son was born I got my speeding more under control: keeping it under 90mph when he wasn’t with me in the car and closer to 70mph when he was – this was my way of weaning myself off the need for speed. I got to taste life in the slow lane and discovered that although it didn’t provide the adrenalin rush, it was also less exhausting.
My acceptance of the death of my inner Speedy Gonzales took place over time and for a while I raced his ghost. Initially, when not on the motorway, I found myself hovering above the speed limit just to where I thought I couldn’t be pulled over for speeding. Pushing my luck, y’ know? Like I hadn’t been already.
I started with the country roads and with choosing not to overtake the slowpoke ahead of me, knowing I could get my speed rush as soon as my spinning wheels hit the motorway. Driving the back roads, I got to feel what it was like to drive within range of the speed limit on a fairly regular basis. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. I had places to go! It didn’t help that for most of my life I left the house, work or wherever I was, late so there was always an underlying need for speed which conveniently kept me tearing up the roads and my pedal to the metal.
I changed jobs and the location of the new office gave me the option to take the motorway or the back roads. Much to my surprise I opted for the country roads most days and I found that these roads aren’t just made for speed, there’s scenery and beautiful skies to enjoy along the way when one isn’t gripped to the steering wheel for dear life and focused on the annoying driver in front. There were times too where I found myself actually being present as I sat in the driver’s seat, giving me the chance to lighten my grip on the steering wheel and surrender the tension in my body.
Gradually, as my driving was beginning to find a more harmonious flow on the back roads, it seemed to open up a bit of space for me to look at the pace I was choosing in other areas of my life – a ripple effect that I curiously began to notice and observe.
I found myself being able to get out of the house on time in the mornings on a fairly regular basis without much effort to do so and it seemed like no matter what time I ended up leaving, I was arriving on time or shock, horror – early even! I was beginning to find the pressure at work lifting a bit and becoming more manageable, and my days seemed to expand, as if lasting a little bit longer than before and they had a more spacious flow to them.
My world has changed considerably since the death of Speedy Gonzales and his ghost – the most amazing moment being when I felt to start taking the motorway to work again. The first few times I felt like a foreigner in a country I’d never set foot in with a stranger behind the wheel. It felt well… gorgeous. I felt gorgeous!
I found it impossible to take my vehicle above 70mph and I didn’t even feel the need to try. Instead of attacking the motorway with speed I simply continued to move and drive in the steady flow of my new alignment: doing so allows space for everything around me to constellate in such a way that in a year of choosing to drive the motorway again, not once have the roads been congested or the flow of traffic been anything but in alignment with my own.
Since becoming a student of Universal Medicine and the Ageless Wisdom, I have become much more aware of my movements and the impact they have not only on myself, but also on those around me. I chose to be oblivious to the effects my speeding had on my own wellbeing as well as those unsuspecting drivers travelling the roads with me, but now when I observe those Speedy Gonzales drivers tearing down the motorway I hold steady in knowing that was the energy I used to drive in: I get to feel this driving need for speed from a different perspective allowing me to feel and appreciate the effect one’s way of moving and driving has on others.
No judgement, no flashing blue lights, just appreciation.
By Brigette Evans, taking time to smell the roses having finally given Speedy Gonzales the boot.
Further Reading:
Driven to Distraction
Our Guide to Creation
Abiding by the Law – Driving on the Speed Limit, and Enjoying It!
195 Comments
When we rush, every molecule in our body moves faster. The harder we run our bodies, like any complicated device, it wears out more quickly. Why would we willingly do this?
How anxious would our bodies particles be when we race around doing speeds that are faster than would serve our bodies, and could this lead to depression and other mental disorders as we are unable to truly relax for such long periods while driving so fast?
I never considered that speeding gives the driver a rush. It gives me heart palpitations! But it highlights how they drive around in other parts of life. Understanding people helps knock out judgement.
Universal Medicine has improved every single area of my life including my driving!
Agreed SLC because Universal Medicine has supported me to improve Me beyond recognition and hence every area of my life has subsequently improved. Now I bring Who I truly Am to Life rather than who i’m really not.
Driver arrogance and the ensuing judge-ment actually meant that I would see other drivers as lesser-than and simply speed past them so thank you Brigette as this also feels like road-rage undercurrent not diagnosed before this point. So letting go of the way I used to drive is a process that I will always be able to now deepen in and have a greater understanding of being a much more relaxed driver with the consideration of the others on the road along with the decency and respect they deserve.
I have always had a Sat-nav in my car because I like boys toys. It was about speed and minimising times. There was also a time I used it for racing myself. A few years ago, there was a trip I took every Sunday that was all B roads in the country with lots of twists and turns. It was a great road for motorcycles! Because it was early evening, the road was empty, and on the way back, I would try to better my time. It had got to the point where I was only shaving seconds off my time. I had walked on thin ice far too many times and survived myself and did not harm any others when my need to race with the clock was no longer needed. That was the weekly trip and my need for speed. I still have a Sat-Nav, but now its to find my way back home after taking the path less travelled and enjoy the view.
I have a quiet giggle to myself when driving and there is someone really impatient behind me, I move out of their way so they can go past and they speed past, all important like, only to then have to apply their brakes because of the traffic in front of them … the reason I was driving slower in the first place. Driving really is an expose of how we are feeling in that moment and of course are we caring for those around us or just only think about ourselves! I can definitely appreciate my speedy gonzales is no longer and just how much more solid and steady I feel in life and also when driving.
Speed is an addictive drug that affects the user and everyone around them.
My breath changed just reading the title of this article! Remembering reading it a while ago it was like a release into space and permission not to be caught in the raciness of life.
Thank you for a beautiful blog showing how everything affects everything else. Alchemy.
I am really aware of the pace I drive my car being a reflection of the pace I am feeling in my body. When I am rushing it is when I have not considered myself or the responsibility ahead of me and have got caught up in the ‘I will just do this before I go’.
Yes. I also do the thing where I am aware I am rushing but override this and convince myself that I will just whizz through this and then settle and slow down. But of course when I arrive at that moment I have the momentum of the rush to unravel. Not so wise… and I am learning.
The other day I went over the speed limit during a journey I left late for, I could feel the rush and raciness in my body yet I pushed on through, a good lesson for me to give myself space and plenty of time.
Yes, giving oneself more time allows more space – and that really is a gift.
The more settled I feel in myself the more flow I find on the roads when I drive: The more I am in touch with the innate qualities within me the more I am in harmony with a natural rhythm of all life.
To me anytime we re-connect with ourselves and slow the rushed and racy movement of life down is a awesome thing. I really appreciate since re-connecting more with me and feeling much more solid and present in my body how the quality of my driving has changed. Who said fast was best? ….. from my experience and observation when we go fast in life with anything it is normally because we are stressed, not considering others or avoiding feeling something.
This evening I drove in medium traffic and was at ease with driving less than the speed limit rather than go over to overtake and not get caught in the rush home. I wasn’t rushing home because I was at home with myself. Was feeling sad about some things but that was ok – I didn’t have to rush home to numb out on TV or food, or just shut out the world – if that were ever possible.
I love this, instead of rushing to go ‘home’ knowing the true ‘home’ is actually within us all the time.
I love this too, Vicky and Karin. How beautifully we can be in the world when we are in full awareness that “…true ‘home’ is actually within us all the time.” It conveys the simple truth of how being truly at ‘home’ is being at one with the All.
Love this, Vicky, Karin and Brigette. Our true home is indeed inside us
Being late can be a hard habit to break, I know I still find myself being late even when I know the consequences it can bring.
I find that when I am in a hurry, not allowing more space before I depart for work I find I get all the red lights, get caught up in traffic, feel the need to rush & put my foot on the pedal so as not to arrive late. I then feel annoyed because I usually arrive at work 5- 10 mins late & then for the rest of the shift I am in nervous energy & feeling racy.
However, lately I have been trying to leave home earlier and the experience is so different. I hop in my car with gentleness, my driving is more flowing and calm- I stick to the speed limit. I find I don’t get all the red lights & even if I do I am reminded to take the stop moment to feel my body and come back to me. I arrive on time. I walk in with authority and grace. I am open and cheerful; I greet everyone with an open-heart and enjoy every connection I am constellated with- there is purpose.
I love feeling the way you describe the two very different ways you can end up at work’s doorstep, Loretta, and the contradictory ways your shift unfolds as a result. Awesome.
Having an attitude that we need to allow all our destructive and non-loving behaviours to RIP – now that is evolution.
The racy energy we have to align to so we can drive at super fast speed instead of the speed limit sets us up to also be racy in our day.
I agree, Gill – the difference feels very obvious. Even on the few occasions when I haven’t given myself enough time and I feel myself going in to a rushing energy, I pull myself up on it and step to the side to let it pass. What giving myself plenty of time has taught me is that no other energy is worth leaving the self loving I have come to know. So those few moments I have found myself out of time as it were, I bring myself back and embrace the opportunity to stay present and stay connected to my self love. In doing so I go into observation and watch the magic happen as space unfolds before me and I move away from time and so the hold it started to have over me.
Having the commitment to respect and honour the communities we live in, is certainly a step forward in our evolution.