I am guilty, I must confess. I am ashamed about it but over the last few months I have adjusted my attitude and my response.
Sometimes something inside of me wants to return to my previous ways but I am constantly fighting to remain positive and supportive.
I know you are a bit confused as to what I am referring to but I know you are guilty also. You are a contributor to a nasty, disgusting practice that has become a disease over this country.
Let me tell you two scenarios and let’s see if you can be honest enough to say, ‘Yup, I’m guilty’.
Scenario No. 1:
One morning I was late for work. As I was about to make my last right turn onto the straight which would take me to work, an old man in a hat made the turn just before me. The road was wide enough for me to overtake and I decided to. As I accelerated and pulled to the right, the old man peered through his rear-view mirror, saw what I was doing and pulled his car to the right to prevent me from overtaking. I thought the man was playing so I tried to overtake again and guess what? The old man did; he pulled his car into the middle of the road and blocked me. This continued until I got to work; I was so upset.
Scenario No. 2:
I was driving along the ABC Highway heading from the Warrens roundabout towards the Hothersal Turning roundabout. I was just cruising when I saw in my rear-view mirror another car approaching quickly in the other lane. As the car got next to my bumper I decided to speed up, doing everything possible to prevent this car from overtaking me.
Here we have two scenarios, one where I was prevented from overtaking and the other I was preventing someone from overtaking. If you have ever done this, or continue to do this, you are guilty.
Have you ever recognized that if someone tries to overtake you, there is a feeling that generates inside you that urges you to prevent them from overtaking? This is the nasty, disgusting practice that is growing in this country. It really isn’t in the overtaking, it is that we can’t bear the thought of someone going ahead of us, or advancing in their lives, or accomplishing something before us, so we sometimes try to prevent them.
The overtaking is symbolic of advancement, development, success and breakthrough and the prevention is symbolic of selfishness, immaturity, jealousy and bitterness.
Has this ever happened to you?
You receive some spare cash so you decide to do some improvements on your house, maybe put up a fence and do some painting and, all of a sudden, your neighbour stops speaking to you. Or maybe you decide to wear to work more fashionable and better quality clothing and, all of a sudden, you hear amongst colleagues that you are stuck up and “full of yuhself”.
There are some shop owners who, after years of doing business, would love to buy a new car but if they do, they fear that they may lose customers in the neighbourhood. There are some pastors who would like to buy a new car or build a new house but are being very cautious because some members of the congregation will say he/she is stealing the church money.
Think about it. If we spend our time, energy and resources hindering each other’s development, advancement and success, we will all remain at the same place – poor, grumpy and unhappy.
Maybe, just maybe, if, instead of preventing you, I encourage you and support you as you develop, when you reach your destination, you would be in a position to assist me in doing the same.
Maybe, when you become financially free, you can help me do the same; maybe, when you complete your house without taking out a loan, you can teach me how to do the same.
I’ll be the first to say that I was guilty and at times that feeling to prevent others from overtaking me on the road arises now and then. Sometimes I give in to it, if even for a few seconds, but I am making a deliberate commitment to rid this nasty practice from within me and, hopefully, you will do the same.
• Corey Worrell is a former Commonwealth youth ambassador. Email coreyworrell@gmail.com.
