If I was perfect, I believe I would struggle daily with arrogance. Maybe that is why sometimes life gives me a hard lash to keep me humble and focused. I hate messing up and I hate making mistakes. But is there a role for errors and mistakes in my life?
Over the past 11 years I have been working hard on Corey. I have worked daily on my attitude, my character, my behaviour, my communication skills and my mindset.
I have built my life on seven pillars (being disciplined, knowledgeable, principled, kind, appreciative, forgiving and being effective in communicating), and last week I was totally humbled when one of the pillars, the pillar of discipline was shifted, making my structure a bit shaky.
I was running late to pick up my wife from work because I was getting my little princess to sleep. My wife needed to be picked up from the Bridgetown area by 4 p.m. and I left home (St James) at 3:45 p.m. As I drove along Highway 2A, I passed the junction by St Silas Heights heading in the direction of Warrens and accelerated as I went up the incline. On reaching the top of the incline, I saw a line of traffic beginning to go down the hill in the opposite direction.
Lo and behold, in the line of traffic was a police jeep.
I wasn’t too bothered by the police as I didn’t think I was driving wildly or overly fast. As I approached the roundabout at the bottom of Orange Hill, I saw some flashing lights in my rear-view mirror. I pulled over after exiting the roundabout and the police pulled up behind me. He got out and informed me that he had clocked me doing 98 kph on a 60 kph highway and added that if I wished I could see it on the radar gun.
I know I was doing more than 60 but I was not convinced that I was doing 98. I asked the policeman if his radar indicated time so as to prove to me I was the person the gun recorded. The officer responded that he used what he was given to use. Anyway, I called my wife and informed her I was reported for speeding and would be late for her.
I picked her up and was quite upset because I believed in my heart that I was not doing 98.
For the next two days I reflected on what took place and each time I thought of it, I felt this hole in my stomach. It was at that time that I realized I missed the real lesson from this situation. Whether the reading on the gun was from another vehicle or not, the fact of the matter was I knew I was doing more than 60 kph, which is the legal speed limit. This meant I broke the law and I was not exercising discipline.
I spoke to my wife about what I learnt from the incident and I also shared with her how disappointed I was that I had messed up. She responded with these words, “Honey, don’t beat up yourself; this is an area for growth.” She basically said that being disciplined while driving was an area in my life I needed to strengthen.
For the last seven days I have not exceeded the speed limit, and it has been very, very, very hard, especially driving at 60 kph on Highway 2A, which in my opinion should be increased to 80 kph along some sections. I think what makes this even more difficult is that I drive a sports car with a sports exhaust. I feel like an alcoholic who is trying to get off the addiction but hanging out in a rum shop.
There is always a lesson to be learnt when you hit rock bottom or do something out of character or you mess up. Out of these lessons there will always be areas for growth. Where there is no discipline, chaos is inevitable.
I want to publicly thank Constable 1058 for reporting me last week. Your actions have changed my life, aiding me in becoming a more disciplined and responsible individual and driver.
Corey Worrell is a former Commonwealth youth ambassador. Email coreyworrell@gmail.com
