Ok I’m not going to pretend that I know anything much about cars except for hours and hours of Fast & Furious, Initial D and Top Gear (the Richard Hammond version of course).
So I’m going to do my best to try and relate life through the eyes of a car “appreciator”. For quite an amount of years now since my very first car, I have been following the Fast family religiously. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan or anything but I try to keep up whenever possible.
Watching imports (our local cars) be in the in-crowd of the streets of Los Angeles’s underground car scene really excites me. So due to this inspiration, I’ve come to realise that I enjoy driving for fun, I love the mods, the scene and the lifestyle.
But to be honest, I’ve never been involved in any car scene at all or even mod mine to any enthusiast level. I just enjoy the morning drive that is uber refreshing and driving at sunset is just so romantic you could cry, well I could cry haha. But I also do however appreciate all the moments I’ve had in my car.
The tears, the breakups, the bestie interventions, backseat movies and mukbang-ing a huge food haul with my buddies. I even hid my bmx bike once in the car for two days before I had to tell my mum that I bought a bike (she hates it when I do boy stuff). Well, mostly memories, I must say. Good ones.
Growing up in my twenties, I’ve had the blessing of experiencing two cars. One was my Mitsubishi lancer 1.6 sports edition (’06) and one was my Honda Civic 1.8 (’08). Sometimes when I sit alone in my car, I think a lot. At times, it’s about the dramas of being in love but mostly about life in general.
Like where am I going ?
I’d wonder where I’d be in 5-10yrs. Would I still be alive? What car will I be driving then? Would I live in my car ? Would cars be electric? Oh gosh, my mind was filled with thoughts.
Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’d like to share my own perspective of life and of the Self. In the point of view of a car lover/appreciator/ don’t know much about it except from tv kinda way.
Ok, let’s begin with the engine, the engine is your brain,
the chassis is the foundation of you – your principles, values.
The brakes are your will power – to refrain, control yourself, make decisions.
The headlights are your point of view of the future.
The rearview mirror is your learning from your past and yet you’re still focused on what’s in front of you.
The side mirrors are your daily self checks on whether you’re incongruent with your goals and values and also minding what you project out to the World in terms of your thoughts and the way you communicate .
The custom job is your personal style custom-made to you. The luxurious interiors are who you are inside. Messy? Clean and organised? You decide how you want to decorate, how you want to be comfortable and how you’d like people to feel when they’re inside( well, not inside you you, oh well you know what I mean). The color of paint you get can also be creative or just simply functionable and clean.
Let’s begin.
Engine – The Brain
A grease monkey’s life is all about the maintenance and the upkeep of a car and the engine is their main love. Whether to ramp it up or to keep it real to the original, it is the most precious thing to look after.
Just like your brain. Enrich it, be aware of your thoughts and declutter your mind. Ensure what you put in is the good stuff only. The best parts. So that you can work at optimum. That’s just how it is. The brain is your engine.
Chassis – The Foundation
The frame is what holds it altogether. That’s the fundamentals of what you must have. If you weren’t blessed with an awesome upbringing, it’s normal and it’s alright.
In your adult life, you would’ve already learned how to differentiate the good stuff to the bad ones. What good habits you must practice and understand what the bad habits will bring you ~ a non progressive and stagnant life.
Your basic life principles and good character is what will withstand and withhold any form of impact. The biggest crashes and the most harsh accidents in your life, a damn solid chassis ( foundation ) will be able to be repaired and it will still work. You will still be able to function. So be sure to develop good values, principles and character, it will bring you a long long way. You have always needed this but more so in your future.
Brakes – Your Will Power
This is the method of how to restrain and refrain gracefully and gentlemanly (definitely not like the example above) . There are so many temptations out there and I must admit that I have succumb to many in my life as a human being. Things I ain’t proud of and sometimes wished my willpower had more bite in the tires and grip in the discs, you know.
I was so easily manipulated and I made a lot of wrong decisions. Now that I’m older, I’ve learned to get better at making better decisions and speak up about it at the right time too.
Put the brakes on anything you see as a red flag. Exercise willpower through meditation or practising your faith more religiously than cars, games and whatever other vices you may have. I’ve been doing this to stay out of trouble.
Headlights – Future View
So check on your headlights every so often. Your goals check for the future has to keep in line. You may lose your way even with your lights on but the kicker is, sometimes it’s ok to get lost and go on another adventure as long as you still know the end destination. Get back on track and move forward.
Make sure it works. Avoid deers at all cost.
Rearview mirror- Learning from Past
You can look back but only to appreciate where you came from, not to keep looking to the past and get stuck there (non moving/ non learning) cos you don’t live there anymore. Remember that.
Take the good from the past and use it to be better navigators of the future. The past is there to remind us of our lessons. We can revise, check back from past experiences in order to not make the same mistakes and that is all.
Side mirrors – Daily self checks
Checking yourself is very important if you’re driving through the nasty traffic of life. It ain’t always a smooth ride and you’ll face a lot of bullies, road hoggers and what have you. Be aware of what you say, look left, look right for those who aren’t driving right. You might miss something if you don’t check your blindspot or offend someone unknowingly.
We have a saying here, “Check your blindspot first, bah”. Usually people say this before they gossip about someone. Cos more often than not, the person you’re talking about might be standing right behind you. Awkward….
Custom Job – That You style
You know what paint you want. Maybe an artwork on the hood by an artist friend or you’d request for a shading on the sides or whatever. Those are just your car’s “clothes”, so to speak. It’s how you express and let the World know that you’re here.
Even if you keep it cool, clean and simple, it lets people know that this is the practical and non-dramatic you. It’s just personality.
Your interiors oh! Man, interiors are fun.
You could do anything. Get leather, maybe reupholster to a certain fabric you like (I recommend no to fabric in cars by the way), anyway point is, the car’s interior and exterior is what you do inside and out. What you project to people whether it’s just a facade or the real you.
If you want to treat people right and invite them into your World, make sure you keep a clean “car”. Make people feel comfortable and at the same time, be vulnerable and allow people to get to know you. This is the exciting time.
People get a taste of how cool going on a ride-along with you will be. This translates to how awesome of a person you are not only on the outside but inside too.
However you’d like to view your life as a metaphor, be it in the life of a tree, a river flowing or the pages of a book, look around you for inspiration. There’s always some form of inspo somewhere. And maybe from a different perspective, life might just be a more smoother and awesome ride. You never know.
Oh well, that’s all from little old me.
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-LM
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