You are on Homeward Approaches. Please Slow Down
Stay alert. Stay alive. Thrive throughout 2025.
As with every road trip, every calendar year inevitably reaches its exit day.
Life has taught me to always reduce my speed whenever Iโm approaching home or getting to the end of my journey.
Therefore, if you have endured or enjoyed 2024 to this point, now is the appropriate time to slow down.
Slow down?
Yes.
One close-shave personal experience of micro-sleep while driving and near-miss accidents on home approaches has reinforced this maxim in me through the years.
Twelve years ago, I was heading home with my family. Weโve covered over 400 kilometres in the SUV. Home was less than 30 kilometres away. At the outskirts, traffic was more frenetic with pedestrians and other vehicles.
I had to reduce my driving speed accordingly.
So far, so good, we were on our leisurely home lap of our on day journey. My wife was by my side. Two kids and two teenagers were behind us. I was attentive and presumably more alert. Or so I thought.
But โlike play, like playโ (as we say it in Nigeria), I was caught driving at an oblique angle to the road. And I was completely unaware of my error โ driverโs-error.
Luckily, my co-pilot (my wife) was awake and alert.
โWhat are you doing? Sleeping?โ
Yes, I got busted while micro sleeping.
Caught red-handed, I apologised, โYes I am. Iโm sorry.โ
In less than 5 seconds, and it was all over.
Thanks be to God (โJesus took the wheels โฆโ). Save for my wifeโs timely intervention, I might have driven the entire family into the rough and water-logged terrain, or even worse, collided with other vehicles or road users.
It was an unforgettable lesson and life-long experience.
Just a few more days to go, and this year 2024 will expire.
But time never passes away, we are the ones passing away.
Why must you slow down during this festive Christmas and New Year season?
Itโs time to reflect and count your blessings.
The last week of December is a good time to take stock of how youโve fared in 2024.
As you reflect and review all that happened (or didnโt happen), count your blessings, instead of majoring on your setbacks or failures.
As you count your blessings, you will see many causes for gratitude.
And as you live and express gratitude for all your blessings (both big and small), you effectively ward off discouragement and all feelings of hopelessness.
Perhaps you aren't discouraged.
Maybe you need to be more grateful.
Daily.
Count your blessings name them one by one.
Count your blessings see what the Lord has done.
Count your blessings name them one by one.
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Be mindful, stay alert to stay alive.
Christmas, end of year, and New Year seasons are always loaded with excitement, travelling, festivities, and other fun activities. As such, it is always so easy to get carried away โ throwing caution to the wind.
Donโt do it.
At home or, or on the road, donโt get swept away, gone with the wind of excitement, adventure, or fun.
Stay ever mindful.
Mindfulness, according to Oxford Online dictionary, is,
the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.
a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Also, according to Mindful.org,
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what weโre doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by whatโs going on around us.
As you stay alert and practise mindfulness, you will be staying alive, and thriving into the New Year.
Think ahead, see ahead. Thrive.
Think ahead, see ahead.
~ Toyota Motor Corporation
While reviewing my New Year plans (2024), Iโve reached some goals well beyond my expectations. For some other goals, I flat-footed, scoring zero. But overall, Iโve made progress. Yes, beyond what I thought possible.
The problem with making New Year plans is that some people often wait until after entering the new year, before thinking of their New Year goals or plans for reaching them. Majority of folks never have concrete goals. Neither do they write them down
Donโt do it.
Do this rather. Spend a few minutes or hours to draw up your New Year Goals (before or shortly after you cross over into the New Year). Donโt do this glibly. Neither should you overthink it.
Overthinking kills inspiration, dampens motivation, and can blind one to the realms of great possibilities ahead in the new year.
It is not too late to start thinking or writing down your New Year goals, making plans, and taking actions that will propel you to achieving your dreams.
No matter how little your steps, or how much youโve stumbled or failed in the past, now is the time to start anew;
Reflect and count your blessings.
Practise mindfulness. Stay alert to stay alive.
Think ahead, see ahead. Thrive.
Thank you for reading. Wishing you all the best for the New Year.
The author originally published this story on Medium.