Sliding Into First Gear

Here we go with another winter weather story.  Before starting, though, let’s journey back to our high school or college physics class. How much do you remember about that marvelous force known as friction?  Friction comes primarily in two varieties.  Static friction is present when two contacting surfaces are not sliding past each other.  Kinetic friction is present when two contacting surfaces are sliding past one another.  Kinetic friction is highly desirable if you want to participate in winter activities such as ice skating or skiing.  Static friction is more enjoyable if you want to do something like snowshoeing or snowmobiling.  Static friction is also extremely important when driving a car forward!

As a lifelong manual transmission enthusiast, I cannot recall a time when my primary vehicle has been anything but an automatic transmission.  Why?  That is simple: I like the illusion of control!  It should come as no surprise to you that this story involves my beloved “Fuzz” - as my kids affectionately call our 2001 Ford Escape - which just so happens to have a 5-speed manual transmission.

While heading into work on a snowy Friday morning, I was following my usual county road route, which was covered in the sloppy, slick slush from the previous night’s snowstorm. As I moved closer and closer towards the lake, the roads became less and less clear.  Along my route there is a large county park on HWY A that is well known in our area to have the best sledding opportunities for kids and adults alike.  As such the roads surrounding the park are hilly with some steep inclines or declines as your direction of travel dictates.  As I started to climb the largest hill in the road in 5th gear, I felt the front end of the car slide (kinetic friction towards the ditch as my tires broke traction(static friction).  I let off the gas,which caused the tires to regain traction (static friction) and slow down.  As a result of my lower speed, I down shifted into 4th gear.  *For those of you unfamiliar with manual transmission, the lower your speed, the lower the gear you need to use to maintain forward motion. *  I continued to climb the hill until it happened again.  The tires started slipping (kinetic friction) so I let of the gas, which slowed me down to the point where I down shifted again.  By the time I reached the crest of the hill, I repeated the process a couple more times and crawled along in 1st gear. Slow? Yes, but I made it!

Yet another beautiful word picture to illustrate how we should make progress with our financial and relational goals.  With our objectives set and our path identified, we must move forward with all our efforts trying to make as much traction as possible.  When our proverbial wheels start to spin, we must slow down reassess our method,direction, and purpose before pressing forward – a shifting of the gears.

Questions to Ponder

Martin Luther King, Jr. is credited with saying, “If you cannot fly then run, if you cannot run then walk, if you cannot walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

·       What areas of your life can you see the progression of forward momentum described above?

·       What habits have you created that have forced the progression towards 1st gear to crawl forward?

·       What type of support do you need to gain faster and more meaningful forward progress?

Here is to encouraging your forward momentum no matter the speed!
Jacob Zimmerman