Traffic Pattern

In aviation, there is something called a "Traffic Pattern" and it refers to the proper flying procedures for taking off and landing at an airport. It exists for safety purposes and to obviously avoid a mid-air collision with other landing and departing traffic. While the human eye and on board traffic systems help avoid such tragedies, it also helps to follow these guidelines to make it even safer. There are 5 basic parts to a traffic pattern (visualize a rectangle) and they look something like this: Take off/climbout - known as "upwind" Turn out (usually to the left) - known as crosswind Level off and another left turn flying parallel to the runway - known as downwind Left turn and decend - known as "turning base" or just "base" Left turn and and continue decent - known as "turning final approach" or just "final"

So, there I was one day, lining up to take off into the traffic pattern, when it occurred to me that LIFE is like a traffic pattern.