ROAD SIGNS FOR THE JOURNEY: Yield

8 Elul, Wednesday, September 3

One of the scariest moments for new drivers is learning to get on the highway. Once on, highway driving is a breeze (unless you’re in LA traffic, but that’s a different column). But learning how to pace yourself, to enter into the lane as other cars come speeding by, takes more than practice. It takes courage.

Learning to yield is a step up from learning to stop. The stop sign (when you see it) sends a clear message. While stopped, it’s a good time to look around and make sure no one is coming before you move on. But the yield sign is ambiguous. You slow down, and at the same time you have to turn or move your gaze and determine who is coming, and how fast they are going. When is it my turn?

We don’t always get a signal to stop, but we are often called on to yield. As social beings, we learn to yield to others, to listen and respond (or not), to determine where my needs end and yours begin.

Sometimes we need to move bravely ahead, not to yield at all. When we are motivated by fear or coercion, when we are tempted by peer pressure or by unhealthy desires, it is important to take charge. The yield sign requires more discernment than the stop sign.

As John Lennon famously sang, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans,” which is a loose translation of the Yiddish expression “man plans and God laughs.” (Mann tracht und Gott lacht.)

Our days are filled with moments when we are called to yield to life’s unpredictable circumstances. Or not. In either case, we need to practice this skill so that we learn to respond with focus and awareness to the flow of the world and to our soul’s noblest demands.