I suppose when most people hear the word tailgating, they picture a pregame party held on the tailgate of a vehicle, but I am picturing driving down the highway with someone driving too close, riding my bumper, "tailgating". If we think of our bodies as our vehicle's and our life like a highway the concept of tailgating becomes even more interesting.
There have been times in my life when I've been the "tailgater"; riding someone's bumper, pushing close behind them, trying to get them to speed up and move along. There have also been many times that I've been tailgated by someone. You know what I mean...someone gets on my bumper and can't just back off and let me follow my path or coast along at the rate I am going.
I've observed that sometimes when you ride someone's bumper and push them to speed up and move forward, they do just that and you both flow along at a higher speed. Other times when you push someone, they just continue on at the speed they want to go and your only choice is to either slow down to match their speed or speed up yourself and pass them by.
I've also noticed that sometimes being tailgated can encourage you to get up to speed, but other times it can cause you to become frustrated and road rage may ensue. It's our choice how we respond to someone riding our bumper. If we aren't really careful, sometimes something unexpected happens and if we are pushing someone too close from behind a collision can occur.
It seems tailgating is risky business. We need be very careful about how we react to the vehicles around us. It's important to pay attention and observe why someone is riding our bumper or why someone else is driving so slowly. A wise person will be aware of what pushing someone from behind can lead to and be aware that their reaction to being pushed also has consequences. Mostly it seems important to pay attention to how we, ourselves are driving our own vehicle and be careful not to push anyone of the road or drive so slowly that we hold everyone else up. Keeping our focus on our path, where we are trying to get to and how to we can get there in the most safe and effective manner for everyone involved seems to be a key to survival on the highway of life.
Happy driving everyone!
