Strife For The Sake Of Strife

I have a British passport and a British husband. The next thing I need to add to my collection is a British driving license. Here's the thing. In the U.K. there are two types of licenses – an 'automatic' one and a 'manual' one – if you take the driving test on a car with an automatic transmission then you cannot drive a manual car (legally). 

If you were bleeding to death and the only thing that stood between us and the emergency room was a car with a stick shift, I could probably get you there in one piece. But it wouldn't be pretty. I've had two friends try to teach me how to drive stick in parking lots and sparsely populated areas, so I sort of know how to do it. But without ever driving a manual for more than a few hours at a time, I'm not very good.

So the question is: when I learn how to drive on the left side of the road in a foreign country and have to take a driving test for the first time since I was 17, should I just go the whole hog and learn how to drive a manual properly?

I've been asking a lot of people this question and a lot of people have been telling me yes. It will be so much cheaper to rent cars, they say, and the gas mileage is so much better.

And there's that part of me that loves a challenge. I'm not sure what it is I'm trying to prove, but I think it goes along with all the things we do to try to make ourselves feel happier, including accomplishing more. And there's nothing wrong with a challenge, right?

This past Saturday one of my (very smart and lovely) friends said to me over a few cups of coffee: "What, are you crazy? You have a full-time job, plus all the socializing you do, not to mention your blog and what about all those projects you want to get done?" Besides, she said, changing gears all the time is annoying. "Why we don't all drive automatics in Britain is beyond me."

(I'm paraphrasing somewhat – I don't usually take notes when I'm out with my friends.)

I want to get my license to make my life easier. At some point we may want a car (the Hub doesn't drive, which is a whole other story I won't go into). I already have to learn the rules of the road in another country at the age of 35, not to mention orient myself to drive on the other side of the street. There's no reason to make this harder, considering how precious the time is that we each have on this earth.

I think at some point I created a story in my head that the more that I accomplish, the more skills I acquire, the more things I know, the more satisfied I will be – someday, that is. But when does it all end? Will I someday do enough to be enough?

But I'm onto my thinking now. I know its wily tricks. I may need to learn how to drive at the moment, but I don't need to learn how to drive a manual. Instead of making my life more difficult, the current plan is to just enjoy learning how to drive, without the extra stress. Sometimes life is tough – and sometimes we make it tough.

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