Eaten by a Lion

I've never been a 'car' person. My sons and husband know the year, make, and model of about every automobile that drives by. I can't even remember the year of my classic Volkswagon bug that I drove in college.

The other day I met a mother and her 14 year old daughter during a book signing. The fourteen-year-old told me they had just purchased a Scion, and she thought they were cool because no one else had one. With much exaggeration, she spread her arms wide and said, "Now that we have one, I've noticed that EVERYONE has one!" I laughed and said, "You know, this is interesting. We live in the same town, drive the same roads, and I've never seen one." At least if I have, I didn't know it. I told the girl, "Life looks differently to each of us. What we find what we look for."

My friend BJ Stober, an experienced family therapist, taught me a new term a couple weeks ago. It's RAS, or the Reticular Activating System in your brain. Your RAS is responsible for the way sub-conscious awareness is raised as a result of your focused thoughts. I was fascinated that there is a scientific term for this phenomenon.

Yesterday, as I drove to Hurricane, UT to share an assembly with Middle School students, I was searching the radio to find a familiar tune. I stopped when I heard a song from TRAIN. I've heard this song many times, yet not known half of what the lead singer was saying. But yesterday, as I headed towards Red Cliffs Drive, I clearly heard him sing, "Eaten by a lion, run over by a brand new purple Scion."

I still don't know what the rest of the song is about. It's a catchy tune, but I'm clueless. Hearing about a purple Scion was incredible to me. It must have been my RAS at work!