People ask me if I’m anxious about moving to a new home in a far away land to create a new life. I tell them no, I have no anxiety about moving, I have truck anxiety.

I’ve rented a truck to move my treasures from New Hampshire to South Florida. Relatively small, the 16 foot truck will carry all my possessions. The auto transport, essentially a 14’ trailer on which the car will ride, will be towed behind the truck.  This is a common mode of transport for relocation.

At first, my concern was whether the truck was too big. Stuff seems small and insignificant when its mass is spread out over many rooms of a house.

Once packing was underway, the concern shifted to whether the truck was going to be big enough. When boxes were stacked up in a converted dining room, reality took on a different look.

And then, finally, when peace was made with space issues the truth of actually driving a 30 foot rig brought on a new set of challenges. The logistics of interstate travel (moderately different from automobile travel in route and speed traveled), spatial concerns (take care not to rip off gas station overhangs and remember to swing wide at corners) and issues of theft (park the truck within eye and ear shot and, if possible, close to a tree so gas isn’t siphoned) all thrust this normally adventuresome traveler into anxiety mode. I had inadvertently downshifted into fear, a place I rarely go to these days.

The consensus from experienced truck drivers was that after 100 miles it’d become second nature. Agreeing with the concept, I was able to embrace this fully after having an opportunity to actually drive a 16 foot truck myself while helping a friend move.

The short exercise consisted of maneuvering around several buildings in a self storage facility and went relatively well, or so I thought. My passenger’s warning screams when I closely cut a corner with only 6 inches to spare nearly crashing into a building helped to solidify the importance of swinging wide. The rest seemed easy. Was I afraid? No. Instead, I became more determined to master the experience. As a result, I now suspect it’ll take less than 100 miles to get comfortable with this adventure.

So what was the dynamic that allowed me to overcome truck anxiety? Knowledge.

In Pug’s adventure titled, “Pug At The Beach At Night”, the island dog philosopher realized that “his fears were not in the ocean but in his ignorance of the unknown, and from that day forward he vowed to overcome that which he was afraid of by learning all he could about it.”

This delightfully simple and easy antidote to fear is my wish for you today. Go out and learn about the things which cause you anxiety. You may discover they aren’t as bad as you think.

And make sure you swing wide.

<*(((><

Copyright 2008 Diana Taylor

Pug At The Beach At Night, page 9 in the book,
Pug At The Beach, An island dog’s reflections on life available at:
http://www.amazon.com/Pug-Beach-Island-Dogs-Reflections/dp/0974448400