<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/equilibrium.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3862" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/equilibrium.jpg" alt="equilibrium" width="270" height="187" /></a>Am I a slow learner? Possibly but there's more to intelligence than mental capacity, there's also emotional intelligence and maybe I'm a bit lacking there because it has taken me nearly eight months to learn that to maintain equilibrium I need to get the correct balance between living in the past, appreciating the present and planning for the future. I'm not foolish enough to believe that I've reached a permanent state of equilibrium but my current position is more stable now than it was six months ago.

[caption id="attachment_3801" align="alignleft" width="200"]<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/kia-sportage.jpg"><img class="wp-image-3801 size-thumbnail" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/kia-sportage-200x112.jpg" alt="Kia Sportage" width="200" height="112" /></a> Kia Sportage[/caption]

My car search progresses and so far I've driven a Kia Sportage, Mitsubishi ASX, Mazda CX5 and a VW Tiguan. The Kia tops the leaderboard because it is the least expensive (cheapest) and is loaded with extras whereas the VW is a very solid car but is the most expensive (£5k more). I had to work hard to get the Mitsubishi to get going and the engine felt lumpy. The Mazda is very smooth, wants to move without having to be pushed all the time and is therefore in the running - a 24 hour test drive starts next Tuesday. I've yet to drive the <a href="http://www.seat.co.uk/new-cars/new-ateca/overview.html" target="_blank">Seat Ateca</a> (new in the Seat range) so that's booked for Wednesday and there's still the <a href="http://www.hyundai.co.uk/new-cars/tucson" target="_blank">Hyundai Tucson</a> and possibly <a href="http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/KUGA?&amp;searchid=ppc:UK-Kuga-Exact:Kuga-2016-Exact:ford%20kuga%202016:e:c:g:GOOGLE&amp;gclid=Cj0KEQjwo5--BRCS8ceLjv-XppUBEiQAGp15EKLVtP2CW0NRCF89PM8IVYpqgMqYbXZUvZY9sYVMGtYaAlWY8P8HAQ" target="_blank">Ford Kuga</a>.