Your lane.

When traveling down a highway there are many safety precautions in place to ensure, to a certain extent, that you stay in your lane. There are solid yellow lines indicating that passing is prohibited. There are dashed yellow lines indicating that passing is allowed. There are white lines separating lanes for which travel is in the same direction. There are double white lines indicating that lane changes are prohibited. In addition, a rumble strip is applied along the direction of travel following an edge line or centerline, to alert drivers when they drift from their lane. After that, in some cases, there is a guard rail as a last resort safety measure. There are all of these precautions in place in hopes to provide a safer travel experience.

More than 46,000 people die in car crashes each year, according to the Annual United States Road Crash Statistics (ASIRT). The U.S. traffic fatality rate is 12.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. In my home state of Wyoming, that number is almost double at 22. 0 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2020, Americans had a 1 in 63 chance of getting in a car accident.

In theory, if everyone just followed the rules of the road, and stayed in their lane, we wouldn’t have as many fatalities. There are many outside factors that contribute to these fatalities. Some out of our control, and some self-inflicted. These include distracted driving, driving under the influence, decision-making errors, fatigue, malfunctioning equipment, Ill-serviced vehicles, hazardous driving conditions, ignorance of rules, and speeding.

I think the road of life is very similar to driving on a highway. We have many different destinations in mind and we have planned out how we are going to get there. But like the highway, there are distractions that keep us from staying in our lane. Some are outside of our control, but there are probably more that we bring into our lives voluntarily. These distractions slowly pull us from those designated precautions, which could eventually result in a life-altering accident.

I want to make something clear when talking about staying in your lane. I am not referring to resisting change or doing the bare minimum. Impactful change comes from being a maverick leader, and a maverick leader is someone who isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers and go against the grain. I am talking about how comparison to others causes us to veer from our purpose. I am saying that we often get so caught up in what is going on in other people’s lanes, that it pulls us away from our goals and aspirations. Maybe you got caught up in comparison and wondered why someone else’s life looks so perfect and yours doesn’t. In the current age of social media, it can be difficult to focus on yourself or stay in your lane when most people’s lives are front and center. There are even instances when someone else is so preoccupied with what is going on in your lane, that it starts to push you off the road. Maybe it’s a supervisor that is more concerned about the process and doesn’t pay attention to the results. Or perhaps, you find yourself so busy trying to keep your friend’s life together that you can barely manage your own. It's so tempting to see someone doing well in an area and feel like you should shift your focus to do the same. Being authentic to your calling is true leadership.

Why is it so important to find value in the lane we are in?

Comparison kills contentment.

The fastest way to kill something special is to compare it to something or someone else. The reason you can’t do what someone else can do is because you weren’t called to their purpose. So with that in mind, quit the comparison game. Keep your eyes in your own lane, count your blessings, and appreciate the gifts that you have been given. I can guarantee, your friend with a higher salary, your colleague who seems to catch all the breaks, or your neighbor with the perfect marriage, is facing hardships and difficulties that you wouldn’t want to face. I can also guarantee that they are looking in your lane with envy and resentment that you didn’t even realize they had.

Do everything necessary to grow in your faith, your relationships, your profession, and your health, not because you want to keep up in comparison to someone else, but because you want to look back on life knowing that you squeezed every last drop out of the lemon that was given to you.