One of the most basic and important skills in driving is, of course, turning. Driving straight is relatively simple (though not entirely straightforward as it did cause me problems in the past which led to my instructor hurling expletive-laden abuse at me), since one simply needs to hold the wheel and maintain speed. Turning corners, however, requires one adapt to the road situation and make the turn at the perfect moment without causing a major road incident, which did not, and still does not, always work for me. The key to successfully negotiating a corner, I have been taught, is to keep the speed down, since at high speed it is difficult, if not impossible, to steer and change course, and I was advised to bring the speed down well before meeting the point of turn and do the rest like change gears etc. I had problems with controlling the speed of the vehicle for most parts of my learning how to drive journey (perhaps another blog on this), but I gradually came to appreciate the importance of slowing down to a controllable speed before making the turn, which was not only important but actually essential for turning corners, since when one is heading straight, one can go as fast as one likes depending on road, traffic and/or weather conditions, but when one is seeking to manoeuvre by changing speed, course and/or direction, this can only be done if one is moving slow enough. I have expressed before the importance of doing things slow, which is essential not only for getting things started, but also for switching between tasks which I have come to love, which may be seen as analogous to turning corners. One can work flat-out and go full-blast on a particular task before one’s energy (or fuel) runs out, but in order to take advantage of the many benefits of multi-tasking, one would need to learn to slow down at crucial junctions before switching tasks smoothly and successfully. After all, we are seeking to turn the corner in our lives, especially when we are at the downside of advantage. Another benefit of doing things slow.