Life in the Right Lane

By Reba Hull Campbell

I tried an experiment recently as part of my efforts to take a breath and slow down some things in my life. I was out doing some errands on a Saturday morning at Hilton Head without a particular timeframe or schedule.

As I pulled out of my neighborhood into the right lane of traffic, I instinctively put on my blinker to pass the car in front of me. Then I stopped and thought…to what end? Why do I need to rush by in the left lane (likely going faster than the speed limit anyway) just to get to Walmart two minutes quicker?

So I stayed in the right lane and decided, just for the weekend, to live in the right lane and not rush through what I was doing just out of habit.

Wouldn’t it be nice to savor the experience of a meal? To enjoy the wind on my face during a beach bike ride instead of worrying about what I had to do next? To not fret over a few minutes’ wait for a table at dinner? To let the dog take her time on a walk instead of rushing her along?

As I considered this new thought process, a guy whizzed by me in the left lane. When I pulled up to the red right seconds later, there he was already there stopped in the left lane. We both had to sit at the stop light once we reached the intersection. His rushing had landed him in the exact same place I was.

Surely there’s a life lesson in there, right?

About Reba Hull Campbell

When not working to promote the interests of SC cities and towns as deputy executive director of the Municipal Association of SC, Reba is passionate about travel, writing, learning to play the uke and keeping connected with old friends. Reba can be reached at [email protected] or through her blog at http://randomconnectpoints.blogspot.com.