Asleep at the Wheel… whose driving?

Asleep at the Wheel… Whose driving?

4 lane highway, 65 mph, headed north. A warm sunny afternoon and I’m yawning. (Camped outside next to an arroyo under the moon last nite – not much sleep) Thinking maybe its wise to pull over for a few minutes…

Next thing I know, my head bobs up, eyes pop open and I’M RIGHT NEXT TO ANOTHER CAR!

I ease the wheel to the right, back into my own lane. OMG! How’d that happen, and HOW LONG WAS I OUT?

Heart beating wildly, not in response to the sudden waking, but to the realization I was asleep at the wheel at 65 mph!

Had a friend, a dispatcher for a limo company. They hosted a huge tournament and he didn’t go home or sleep for days. He said he fell asleep 5 times on the hour long ride home. Every time he woke up, he was in a grassy median strip. I know that highway, there are only so many grassy median strips on it. Lots of concrete walls too.

Who is driving when we’re asleep? I wonder, as i’m pulling into a parking lot to ‘finish’ my nap. (a much more relaxing setting.)

When the everyday mind is unconscious, asleep or under anesthesia, we assume there’s ‘no one at the wheel’. Not so sure. From what I know about the limbic brain, I’m reassured that a far wiser, more intuitive part of me is in charge.

I’ll think about this as I take a quick roadside snooze……………….