Hands on the steering wheel. 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock.
Firm grips. Eyes kept on glancing back and forth between the side mirror and
the back of a wide 18 wheeled truck. Sweat rolling over my neck as I wait for
the opportune moment. The 18 wheeler in front doesn’t seemed to be as fast. I
move to its side. The road suddenly felt a lot more cramped. The divider on the
other side seemed to be coming closer and closer. Anxiety grew within me. I
needed to go faster. I floored it. The seemingly endless narrow road was
beginning to slip away. Finally out of the crevice of potential death.
That was my first experience of overtaking in a
highway. Sure does mean a lot to me. However,
in all that adrenaline stepping on the gas, I wondered if I didn’t go to such
extreme in increasing the acceleration. Of course, that is a typical question
you get from a physics quiz. A question of time, distance and speed.
What
speed really is just the difference of distance over a period of time. The
variables will have an effect on one another. More speed, less time. You don’t
need to be a theoretical physicist to get that. But in all fairness, the
question that probed my mind was that I didn’t need constant acceleration. Just
as long as my speed is higher than the truck.
With all this, it comes down to only one crucial
thing. One thing that determines the importance of any action; time.
We are,
figuratively like cars. Moving at its own speed. Overtaking each other. Some
obeying the road laws, while some don’t. The only variable that keeps
everything in relevance is time. Some, achieve success even before they reach
30. Achieving all their dreams at such an early age. Of course, it’s proportional
to their effort. While some, only get to reach their dreams well over
retirement age. It is just a matter time. The distance. The speed. Those don’t
matter. Time is the ultimate measurement. What people make a fuss about though
is about how they want their riches and wealth to come in an instant. As
quickly as possible. The underlying problem of this is that we do not realise
our own speed. Our own effort on making it a reality.
A higher
speed, but a constant one was all it took to overtake that truck.
