A dream come true

 It was a dream come true. I wanted to bring my son from the airport—driving myself. This seemed impossible just two months ago when my son told me, “You’re overaged; your reflexes may not be great. Driving isn’t a good decision now.” He even added that he would pay all my Uber bills. That day, I decided to take driving as a challenge.

The one thing my family always teased me about was that I got my licence almost twenty years ago but never really drove regularly. I would drive for a few days, then give it up—blaming my circumstances: small kids, no time, being a working woman managing home and work all alone while my husband was away. The list went on… but the one thing I forgot was that my age was progressing and my confidence going down.

Then came the era of automatic cars. I insisted on getting one, thinking I could drive better. Yielding to my wish, an automatic car was bought—but the story remained the same. Now my excuse was that there was no other adult in the house besides me, so in case of an emergency, I would have a tough time.

It is always easy to find excuses and very hard to take the first step. Slowly, my family accepted that I was not going to drive. Soon, I was blamed again—this time for wastingmoney on an automatic car when everyone else wanted a manual one. Against my wish, my husband and children bought a new manual car after selling the old one. That brought an end to my ‘driving era’.

The guilt of not driving despite having a licence kept pricking me. I felt jealous of my colleagues who drove confidently to work every day. Finally, I decided to give it one more try when my father bought  his automatic car to my place. Since there was no cooperation or motivation from my family, I had to find an instructor and pay for the classes myself.

All the instructors told me the same thing: “You drive well; just take the car out yourself.” But some inertia held me back. I realised the importance of self-motivation and self-help. When no one stands with you, you must find that inner force.

This time, I focused on solutions rather than anticipated problems. And that was it—I could drive, and drive smoothly!

With pride, I went to the airport and picked up my son. My son was excited and happy to see that his 'negative reinforcement ' he asked me, “When are you going to drive the car all alone?”. "Yet another milestone to be achieved ,"I said and today I  acheived that too.!!!

The lesson I learned is that things are not as difficult as we imagine them to be—and that sometimes sarcasm and criticism can motivate you in their own ‘unique’ way.

This is dedicated to all the women who have a driving licence tucked safely in their wallet, but for some reason, still hesitate to take the wheel. Your time will come — just as mine did.