Saturday, November 12, 2011

Finding Fraser: Gas and Time

From the archives.....

Gas and Time   (first blogged July 2008)

We spent the weekend up at the family cottage, 4 hrs away. Well, by my driving time it's 4hrs, but it's only 3-3.5 by my husbands. This time, I did the drive home so hubby could sleep, as he's woking the back shift this week. Anyway... I had recently read (I believe in Readers Digest) that a lady was religiously getting 600-630km's per tank of gas, driving at 120km/hr. Now, I've heard many times that driving between 100 and 105 gives you the best gas mileage, but I'd never heard a true testimonial on just how big the difference was. So, as I was saying, this lady averaged between 600-630kms on a tank of gas. By reducing her driving speed to between 100-105, she increased her distance covered to 770km's! Needless to say, being an unemployed soon-to-be student and mother of 3, I want to squeeze that tank as much as I can, and was determined to do just that! So, by adding 30mins to our drive, I saved almost a quarter of a tank (approx $20)coming home compared to how much gas we used to get there (at hubby's 120ish). Wow! And for a mere half hour! I must say, I certainly don't make $40 an hour, I'm slowing down.

During this drive, with hubby snoring next to me, I had plenty of time (30 mins more than usual, I might add! :P) to think about what it was that I would be missing by spending the extra half hour in the van. Hmmm... nope. Nothing.
While doing some research on "Intentional Living" recently, I came across a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke:

"…have patience with everything unresolved in your heart, …try to love the questions themselves… Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them…. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

and I was thinking about the essence of this quote on my drive. Why rush to my destination to get to nothing 30 mins earlier and completely ignore the 3.5 hrs ahead of me? Why not slow down, look around, and actually live during the next 3.5 hrs? Was there something so important awaiting me at home that I need to effectively lose 3.5hrs, only to save losing 30 mins later on... 30 mins I knew would be effectively wasted anyway? Having been raised as an athlete, I constantly have my "eye on the prize", (even when others vehemently swear I have no focus whatsoever) and am focused on the finish line. But I'm not an athlete anymore. And if there's a trophy waiting for me at the finish line of my life, great. But can I and I should I really ignore life in trying to get to it?

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