Wellness In-Sight: Power in Yielding

Wellness In-Sight: Power in Yielding Wellness In-Sight: Stretch YourselfCindy E. Farrar

Cindy E. Farrar What has become of the driving laws, rules and courtesies of the road? It has always appeared that some of them were taken to be suggestions only. Since the return of traffic following the shutdowns and sheltering in, even the ‘suggested’ road rules seem to have been thrown out the window.

Last week, I came upon an intersection that I travel daily. It is clearly marked that the traffic coming from our direction has the right-of-way. It doesn’t appear to matter. There are still accidents or close calls regularly. As I witnessed yet another disregard of the posted yield sign and the potential harm, I wondered why, of all the traffic rules, is yielding the most difficult to which to adhere? At least in my observation, it is one of the most ignored. That is along with speed limits and that yellow traffic light, of course. It is reasonable that being the driver who must yield sometimes may feel counterintuitive. After all, if I’m cruising along and a car comes from the opposite direction and has the right-of-way, why do I have to slow down, maybe even stop, to allow them to turn or pass in front of me? It may also feel like an inconvenience. Yet not only is it the law, it is also considered driving or road courtesy.

This is another illustration of the law of physics we considered last month; what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? When dealing with more than one motor vehicle or pedestrian, if at least one does not stop or move there could be serious irreparable damage and injury. Yielding can be positively life changing in the physical world. It can also have significant positive impact when our journey is overwhelming - should we choose to take advantage of it.

As humans, our propensity is to keep going at all costs. It is as though we think if we slow down or stop, we won’t be able to start up again or regain our momentum, and delay us from getting wherever we are going. Or we might risk whatever we are moving away from catching up to us. The issues with both these perspectives are that they suppose that we have control over the outside forces present on our journey and that yielding is a negative action.

Choosing to yield, to cease resisting, is one of most powerful positions in which we can place ourselves. When we are in the defensive state of resisting, we are using a great deal of our energy. We are also in a vulnerable posture. The only thing we have control over is how we choose to respond to the outside forces. The very thing we are avoiding, relinquishing the need to control and making the choice to ‘be’ where we are, as inconvenient or uncomfortable as it may feel, is that which empowers.

Dedicated to Edythe E. Farrar 1934-2021.

Cindy E. Farrar, LMT, BCTMB, CLC is a licensed massage therapist, certified life coach and the owner of Massage Associates of Atlanta, LLC (Lavista Road in Tucker). In addition, she is a certified Qi Gong instructor and a nationally approved continuing education provider for massage therapy and bodywork. Cindy enjoys sharing insights on wellness and personal and community development as a speaker and writer.