I suffer the frustrations of being stuck in traffic nearly every weekday. My 25 mile commute takes an average of an hour and 15 minutes. It’s taken three hours on occasion. It’s rarely less than 45 minutes.
That’s a lot of time stuck in the car surrounded by idiots. You know who the idiots are, right? The a—holes who do the dumb things to you that you just did to someone else. It’s all perspective.
I’ve decided to combat the hours of frustration in a few different ways. First, relax. Don’t let someone else kill my vibe. If they want to risk life and limb to get one car length ahead, let them. Wave and wish them a happy, prosperous day.
Second, take advantage of the quiet time. I’m always looking for some time to myself yet I ignore the “quiet” time I already have, two hours a day in fact. Embrace the solitude.
Third, use your time wisely. Audiobooks are a great way to entertain yourself and maybe learn something along the way.
In that same vein, learn a new language. There are lots of apps to help with this. At a minimum you could learn new ways to insult the idiots that cut you off. Lol
Call your mom. (Hands free, please) She probably would love to hear from you. Maybe mom isn’t your first choice, call one of your siblings, or an old friend.
My brother and I frequently catch up while we are both stuck in the car.
The bottom line is that you can turn a negative into a positive and arrive at your destination a happier, more relaxed person.
Drive safely and have a prosperous 2018.
The pictures are mine and were taken while I was stopped dead in traffic.
Great points! One trick I use when cars are honking in traffic - horns used as a 'anger button' (which used to really annoy me) is to use the noise as a trigger for a moment of sincere gratitude that I'm not experiencing the same level of stress as the honker. I'm grateful I can cruise thru and find ways to enjoy the time to learn new things (as you suggested). Audiobooks and podcasts are ways I make use of traffic time.
Good idea. I just try to remember you never know what someone else is going through so I try to cut them some slack.