Have you ever regretted something you have done or have not done? The word “regret” could be discouraging. Let me rephrase it to “What do you want most now?” The answer you have should become a dream for you to chase after, but not something to regret.
Obtaining a driving licence is my goal now. When I was in my early 20s (the time I was living in Hong Kong), a friend suggested that I learnt to drive. She thought it was a useful skill and would be easier to learn at younger ages. I did not take her advice as I was too young to see that this skill would be so important to me later in life.
“The public transport system was already very reliable and convenient, why should I bother?”. I replied.
How short-sighted I was. If I had known I would live in the UK one day, I would have learnt to drive when I was young. I regretted it.
Yet, it was never too late to start learning it when I realized it was useful after decades. Although my limbs were not as nimble as I was young, and I would be nervous only in the passenger seat, after struggling for some time, I decided to give it a try. More importantly, I believed that a driving licence would one day give me back the “freedom” I used to have, like I could go anywhere and whenever I liked to without checking bus or train timetables. The limited transport service here would no longer block me from doing so.
My learning journey had finally begun. You can imagine how nervous I was the first time I drove. The steering wheel must have been feeling painful (if it had a feeling) as I gripped it so tight with my sweaty and shaky hands. Although I was nervous, I was feeling excited at the same time. Driving was not that uncontrollable. My perspective on it started to change.
Apart from taking formal lessons, I also practised driving with my husband. I had spent more hours than normal people did. Nevertheless, my learning progress was still quite slow. I had been struggling to learn parking and turning left for quite a long time. Although this was the case, I did not give up but practised very hard to make progress until the day my instructor agreed that I was ready for the test.
Effort does not necessarily pay off. I failed the test after all. The result upset and discouraged me, but it could not take away the skills I had learnt. Except for this, there is something precious I have gained throughout the learning journey. It has transformed me to be more open to taking up new challenges and accepting myself to make mistakes.
I hope you find your dreams to keep you going but not your past to hold you back. “What do you want most now?” Let this magic phrase help us fly high.
