This car is designed to be driven!

“This car is designed to be driven.”

Not the sort of conversation you have every day, but this was the parting comment of my mechanic after Id just dumped another 500 quid on high performance tyres and having the back rear wheel camber sorted after it was trashed by a crank garage in its last service!

So all systems back on; its driving like a dream, sticking and squatting into the road like hyper charged glue and cornering like a roller-skate on acid! Such joy is my little sports car, my beefy engined snarly sounding beastie….. And yes, maybe this also puts me out of the stereotypical girl mould kind of chat - I like my cars, I like speed, I like adrenaline, I know about performance and engines and most of all I just like sticking my foot on the pedal and having the reassurance that if I need to get the hell out of somewhere.......

.......then I can - and Im not talking about thrill seeking or breaking the law - Ive witnessed many an accident on the road in front of me when, if the car had simply had a bit more acceleration, then it might not have been involved in the smash up it was. It might make me a 'modern woman' to be able to have a sensible conversation with a mechanic in the garage about torque and camber, efficiency and performance savings now that the tyres are set properly, bearings done and numerous other tweaks, but frankly Im just more interested in knowing that Im not being ripped off by being well informed - eye rolling can start now as women country-wide relate to this particular gender discrimination and expectation that we "haven't got a clue because its a machine and we like it 'cos its red! or blue! or pink!" (there are some women out there who give the rest of us a bad rep it has to agreed)

Anyway, his parting comment had me thinking. How many things do we do in life where we just don’t fulfil our potential? My car and its spanky new tyres is ‘designed to be driven’ and not the mere 5 or 6K that I do in it every year - a mere tourist to suffolk and the home counties to see family and friends - this is a touring sports car and the tyres are designed to go distance (and speed)! So Im basically underusing it. Im not fulfilling its potential - it needs road trips and track days and to ‘burn rubber’ no doubt. It needs opening up and pushing.

But isn’t this so often the case in life - that we super-charge ourselves with lots of knowledge and education, insight and data and yet we only ever use or access fractions of it at a given time or moment? As humans we are well confirmed for never fully using our true capacity and brain power - we do use 100% of our brains - the 5% or 10% myth is just that, a myth! But I do believe that even given normal activity patterns on scans etc we are never fully using our potential and accessing all that we have learnt and stored away in the archives of our brains or tapped in to much of the energy and power. I know Im not!

So am i not just, in fact, like my sports car? - designed for more, but never fully pushing myself to my true limits and potential and capability? Am I more like my car than I care to believe - where there are road safety limits and signs and guidelines that I must adhere to so I don’t break laws - Im allowing certain signs, limitations and other peoples rules, beliefs and opinions or ideas infringe on me actually achieving my true potential and reaching my goals and making my dreams and ambitions fully realise?

- How often have I listened to peoples guidance against my gut feel or desires to accomplish something and then later felt regret that I didnt just follow my heart?

- What are those times that I let peoples values or beliefs take me along a different path? - When did I last make an excuse for not doing something, mostly because I was scared of putting myself out of my comfort zone and “trusting my tyres!”

- When did I last challenge the rules or the established way of doing things?

- when did I ask someones opinion and listen to it despite wanting something different?

By holding myself back Im failing to adapt and change, failing to innovate and achieve and Im definitely not trusting in my own skills or capabilities or potential.

So today and tomorrow and the rest of this week, Im going to drive this car like its meant to be driven!!!

Im going to test myself, push myself out of my comfort zone, try something new, follow my gut, tune in to my intuition, challenge a rule or a norm or an established pattern; not because Im being an arse but maybe because its outdated or not helping me realise my true potential any more!