Digital Rodeo

Driving On Empty


We’ve all lived those days when money was tight and driving on empty was necessary. Some of us though, have allowed driving on empty to be a way of life even though times are better and we need not to. Some of us have become experts of the empty tank and know just how far we can drive before our car will finally shut down.

I have to admit that I never saw much risk to it either. The risk of a possible delay should I run out of gas was not something that aroused a sense of panic in me…especially during the college days when it was truly a necessity much of the time.

I have since learned that driving on empty can be quite harmful and has the potential of damaging critical parts that keep your engine running and your car moving forward, namely, the fuel pump.

For those who are not motor heads, the fuel pump keeps the gas in your tank flowing to your engine. Its acts like your car’s heart in many ways by pumping a cars life fluid through fuel lines and into your engine. Without it you car will not run. In fact, it won’t even start.

What I’ve learned is that driving on empty exposes your fuel pump to not only excessive heat, but allows moisture from condensation to build in your tank, not to mention the greater risk of damaging sediment that collects in your tank over the years to make its way into the pump as well. All of which will eventually choke the life out of your fuel pump.

As I was reading the other day, the author used the term “Love Tank” and I was once again reminded of the days when I had to drive on empty. The author suggested that the key to any relationship was to keep the love tank full and when we have problems with each other it’s usually because our love tank is empty.

Though the author was referring to how we have a responsibility to our spouses to keep their love tank full, it hit me how many of us are driving on empty tanks by choice and not because our spouse has shunned their responsibility in keeping us full. We as individuals also share in that responsibility because we have to allow ourselves to be filled.

As I look back over my life, I remembered how there was a time when driving on an empty love tank was necessary to get through some horrific times and how I had to drive empty to protect myself from further harm from a particular individual or individuals. We call it shutting people out, and trust me, I was very good at driving that kind of empty. I had to be at times and there is no sin in that when it is necessary.

Somewhere along the line though, I let it become a way of life rather than a temporary necessity. I became an expert on driving with an empty love tank and knew exactly how far I could go before it became critical. I’d make an occasional stop and get just enough to get through, and then off I’d go till it became critical again.

There was never enough in my tank to really get anywhere. It certainly would not get me where I wanted to go, but when driving on empty becomes a way of life, we often fail to understand the real risk involved. I never realized that eventually it could damage me in a way that would not only delay me, but would cause all of me to shut down and possible never start again. I had no idea that my heart was at such risk, and unlike a fuel pump in a car, it cannot simply be exchanged for a new one….you only get one heart.

I heard the Eagles play this weekend and as the song “Desperado” rolled off their lips I realized the wisdom of the tune as it seemed to speak only to me at that moment when it says…”better let somebody love you….before its too late”………..

One Rose…One Love…Always and Forever……