“Life is a journey. Don't be a passenger - get in the driver's seat and keep your eyes straight ahead.”
Abdul Basit
“There’s more to life than just being a passenger.”
Amelia Earhart
It takes being an active participant in your life. But you are in the driver's seat, and you can determine the direction you want tomorrow to go in.
Douglas Pagels
“On the road of life there are passengers and there are drivers. Drivers wanted.”
You're meant to be in the driver's seat of your life, not running alongside the car, trying to catch up!
Mandy Hale
We are all traveling somewhere in life, but the question is: Are you in the driver’s seat or just a passenger?
Drivers will take their life in their own hands by choosing to pursue their dreams and goals, whereas the passenger sees obstacles as a dead end or roadblock to their dream.
“People who choose to be passengers have to go where the driver is going. And they have little or no control over how fast they move ahead, and no say about whether rules are observed.”
Too many people just want to go along for the ride. They expect to climb on board, settle comfortably into the passenger seat, stare out the window and not worry about a thing until they get to their destination. They don’t think about all of the work that goes into getting them there.
But the driver is in command. He’s the one who navigates the freeways and the mountain passes. He knows when to step on the gas and when to decelerate. He switches lanes when necessary. He fills up the tank. And he’s always aware of the traffic around him.
In life there are passengers and drivers. The passenger is someone who goes along for the ride, often leaving decisions and responsibility for someone else. The drivers in life are the people who take responsibility for their actions and direct their own destiny.
If you want to lead a successful and fulfilling life and you need to stop being a passenger and be the driver. If you need to know how to recognise passenger and driver tendencies then you’ve come to the right place.
Sitting in the “passenger seat” of your own life for too long is a very dangerous game. Letting someone have control over every little aspect of your life gives the person in control too much power, creating strains on the foundations of your relationship with them. If you let someone have power over you for too long, you begin to lose the most important thing in your life: your self-identity. So in order to get out of the “passenger seat” and back into the “driver’s seat” of your life, you need to recognise that you are no longer in control and make time for things that make you happy.
As a passenger:
I can relax
I am not responsible
I am not deciding which way to take
I do not need to know how to drive
I follow
I can be lazy
I am depending on someone else, or I am dependent
I am accepting what others do
I can blame the others
I trust the driver, maybe not always
I put myself in the hands of the driver
I am a passive participant of the drive
I can support the driver
As a driver:
I decide what to do
I take responsibility for my decision
I believe in myself
I decide on where I go and which way I take
I learned how to drive, even if I was not perfect at the beginning
I am responsible for the passengers
I have to consider the conditions I’m driving in (traffic, weather, etc)
I need to understand the rules (e.g. if I drive in another country, the driving behaviors, etc)
I need to be present
I am accountable
I am independent
As a driver you get to decide the route to your destination, the speed with which you travel at, the Highway Code to pay attention to when to rest and when to refuel, allow enough time for the journey and not be afraid of unknown detours and flat tyres along the way.
Sacred Text
“For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
Romans 14:10, 12
Story: Don’t be a Passenger in Your Own Life - Stacey Herrera
We spend a big part of our lives waiting. Waiting in line at the grocery store or waiting for a phone call or waiting for our “big break.”
There are somethings that we must wait for, but there are a lot of things that we don’t. Instead of waiting for life to happen to you, take charge and create the life that you want.
All too often we allow other things and other people dictate what happens. Then we are disappointed when things don’t work out the way that we would have liked. If you take charge of your life; there will be no disappointments. Even if things don’t go a certain way, it can be chalked up as an experienced detour. Rather than a disappointment or a failure.
With each day comes a new opportunity to create the path that you wish your life to take. Each day you have the opportunity to get in the driver seat.
Don’t be a passenger in your own life, allowing fate to steer the way. Get behind the wheel, fasten your seat belt, and take control of your destiny. Only you know where you want to go…who cares if you take the scenic route. When you are behind the wheel, the navigation is up to you.
Science of Mind Reading
Poem 1: Passenger BY Dredd
i am tired of being the passenger in my life
watching it happen while not being present.
i want to steer my own destiny towards a happier and blissful place.
taking action instead of waiting for nothing to happen
waiting and waiting
then complaining
why nothing is right.
you do not wait.
you should not wait.
you should take action.
Poem 2: Passenger by Alison M
Life is so precious, so short;
You never know what is around the next bend;
Heartache and sadness,
Or love and joy;
Going along with the flow,
Accepting your fate;
You are but a passenger,
With no control over your destination;
Take the wheel;
Make your life yours again
Rumination
What is planted in each persons soul will sprout.
Rumi
Black History
DAME LINDA DOBBS
"The Honourable Mrs Justice Dobbs is the first black person in the senior judiciary of England and Wales, being appointed a high court judge in 2004. Dame Linda Penelope Dobbs was born in 1951. Dame Linda came to Britain from Sierra Leone when she was seven years old. Her mother was from Sierra Leone and her father was an English lawyer who went on to serve as a High Court judge in Sierra Leone. Her father had been a High Court judge there. After studying for a BSc from the University of Surrey, she came to LSE to study for an LLM and then went on to write a PhD thesis on “Juvenile justice in the Soviet Union”, under the supervision of Professors Hall Williams and Ivo Lapenna. Dame Linda was called to the Bar in 1981. Her practice at 18 Red Lion Court was predominantly criminal, specialising mainly on serious fraud, customs and excise cases and serious sexual offences. She took silk in 1998. Amongst other appointments was chair of the Professional Standards Committee and the Criminal Bar Association."
Benedicton
Divine Mother Father God
May we know that even as we sit in the driver seat of our life that You are steering the course for the direction you will have us go in.
May we not allow ourselves to be a spectator, bystander or passenger for our life allowing others to drive, instruct and direct us.
May we have the courage to trust the detours our journey may take, knowing that you are our sacred spiritual GPS now and always.
Song: You are the Universe - Brand New Heavies