Stick Shift Life Advice

Learning to drive a stick shift has been enlightening.  Today I learned how to manage stop and go traffic. I use the term manage loosely.
Basically I have been driving a stick before I really should. It's a challenging thing at first but I'm handling it.  It's even more challenging not reacting to stalling in stop and go traffic. People are in such a rush and not used to cars stalling out. They zoom up on you thinking your going to go and stop suddenly in your rear.  It's exhilarating. 
Today I realized I keep killing the car by slamming on my breaks instead of the clutch and the brake.   I then shift into neutral and pull the car to a stop.  Shift to first and go.  Any time I'm uncertain about what to do I remember my new mantra.  'Pause,  put it in neutral,  take it to first, make double sure it is in first,  breath, break if needed. '
After not realizing I was in third instead of first from takeoff and feeling like the engine was going to shoot out from under the hood I knew I needed a mantra.
Then I realised it was familiar.  Non reaction is a work in progress for me.   When I feel a reaction coming up in me to something that is creating a reaction now I tell my self to step back. Same thing as shifting, get out of gear into neutral. 
I'm going to merge the two,  stop,  get into neutral,  assess the situation,  when ready,  move forward.
Happily shifting forward,
Namaste,  Troy.

The world is F!#*ed up. .

I attended a Sally Kempton workshop in Berkeley last Sunday and she ended it with the funniest line.
The workshop was based on the Gita, one of my favorite Yoga texts.  Heck, I named my cat Arjuna. None of the information was new but she presented it in a new way to me.  She used four challenges presented to Arjuna as the basis of the course. 
It was interesting, but I love her book on meditation and thought the talk was going to be based on that subject plus the air in the studio was so stuffy and everyone seemed so serious.  My Guru is funny and gets us to laugh a bit but the people here were not laughing at Sallys jokes.
Then she hit us with what I call a wake up.  If your a presenter and you feel everyone is drifting or becoming comatose a good tool is to change the tone.  So out it came from this sweet mediator:
"The world is Fucked up so just do the best you can".
I'm going to have to steal that line.
Doing the best I can is my personal mantra.  I have a critic mind. People tease me for always changing my environs,  What they don't know is its because my mind is consistently telling me how things, including myself and others can be better.  It's very frustrating.  Meditation had helped a little.  Now when it points out this about Me I counter with "The world is Fd and I'm doing the best I can".
See you on the mat,
Troy

Soul Adventurer

The best thing about traveling is seeing what I'm missing at home. Walking around Rockridge last night,  a lovely little village slipped in between Berkley and Oakland my mind was doing little back flips.  All the diversity of Manhattan but at a laid back California pace.  Had a fresh made to order garlic free Samosa to go from an authentic,  super clean walk up then around the corner a Greek yogurt soup and Baklava. 
Ok,  in list of places to live goes Rickridge. Off to meditate with Sally Kempton.