The Power of the Parallel

It’s always a unique moment when I drive downtown and need to park…the dreaded “parallel park”! Wow, once again I did it! But today something was a little different…

I pulled up next to the car that I would be parking behind. This was the moment of “The Parallel”…if I did this properly, as well as the steps to follow, it would be a perfect park! As I was recalling what Mr. Peterman taught me in 9th grade Driver’s Education, I lined my front seat up with the front seat of the parked vehicle to my right. Lesson #1: If you are going to get behind someone, first you must get beside them. Then I began to back up and angle myself 45 degrees to the curb. At that point, I thought what I always think at this step…”This is totally not going to work”…”Oh my goodness, I hope no one hits the front of my truck that is now sticking out into the street!”…. As the front of my truck cleared the back bumper of the car in front of me, I began to steer the front end back in, while thinking…”Oh my goodness, am I going to drive up onto the curb? (Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, nor will it be the last!)”…I realized that I, in fact, was in the midst of a Perfect Parallel Park!

It was then that I realized, Lesson #2: No matter what things look like, what you think, or what you feel, if you just follow the proven-effective steps that work (if you follow them), you WILL BE successful!

I backed right into that spot with no problem. It was a perfect and profound parallel park! It pays to follow the steps, it pays to get along side someone you want to get behind, and it pays to back in one step at a time. Best of all, when I checked the parking meter, I found out that because it was the weekend, I didn’t have to pay one penny for these valuable lessons!


Healthfully yours,
Dr. Shannon
www.drshannonspeaks.com
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