With the holidays come a lot of travel, added stress and shorter fuses. People can be rushing around more than ever and everyone seems to have someplace to go.
Picture yourself as you drive on the way to get some holiday gifts checked off your list. You anticipate a crazy trip to the mall on your tight daily schedule. The traffic in front of you begins to slow and you stretch your neck to see what is going on ahead. Then you realize, of course, it’s road construction.
The three busy lanes of traffic are merging into two, the right lane is blocked ahead. You grumble and sigh and move to the left. The traffic is crawling at a pace so slow that you have time to take a sip of warm coffee as you inch ahead.
After about fifteen minutes, you are almost past the construction spot when suddenly a car zooms forward from all the way back, traveling in the right lane. There is just enough space between you and the car in front of you for the rude driver to butt his front bumper into, cutting you off in the process.
Your mouth drops open as your face begins to burn. You begin an angry conversation with yourself,“Oh, he didn’t just do THAT? Yes he did.” As you and the rest of the drivers patiently waited your turn, Mr. Jerkface decided to bypass everyone.
Many things could escalate from this situation. There could be honking, yelling out the window, a certain body part thrust into the air. On occasion, there could be even more violent outbursts.
But before you do something that could endanger yourself and other drivers, try to remember that you can’t control the actions of others. The only thing that you have complete control over is the way that you react to situations.
Easy to say, but not always easy to do. Is the driver that acts irresponsible and without regard to others a jerk? YES. Are they trying to make everyone around them mad? Hopefully not.
Hopefully, that person is just too selfish to realize the bad karma they are attracting. Because when drivers cut people off in traffic or don’t wait their turn, the statement that they are projecting is, “My time is more important than yours. I am more important than you.” Is this the case? NO.
Take the time to drive with consideration for others and try not to let another person’s selfish behaviors spoil your mood. Take the time to always be a good person.
Edited by Jody Smith