22 TIS THE SEASON
22 TIS THE SEASON
It is the season when everyone is so busy and has so many things to do; work, buy gifts, plan parties, send cards and remember all the things that you are supposed to do. We have to do this while moving about with everyone else in our way because they are trying to do the same things.
It is a very stressful time of year and everyone is getting tired and irritated. With the shorter tempers is the urge to cut corners, take chances and push ahead; all the things that lead to highway crashes and parking lot fender-benders.
I am normally quite pushy about the correct way to drive and act but God has been cautioning me to be more tolerant and merciful to my fellow drivers because of the stress that everyone is under. Let a few more things go that I normally wouldn’t, be more patient with others and while waiting in lines and allow for more dumb mistakes because they will be made.
The thing is that I am now required to do this at the same time I am under that same stress and am pushing to do more, losing sleep to get more done and trying to find short cuts to save time. This means that I too am making more mistakes in my driving judgements and I am taking more and greater chances with my own life and the lives of those other motorists.
This is not something that we can just say ‘don’t do it’ and then stop doing it, because the stress is there continually and a few minutes later we forget and make that dumb mistake. It is something that takes more concentration when we are more tired, more energy when we are more exhausted and more diligence when we have more to take our attention away from the dangers.
It is a bad and dangerous driving situation and it happens about this time every year. I wish that I could just tell everyone to do better and it would happen but it won’t. I can just point out the situation and hope that that helps whoever is reading this and then work on my own bad attitude and try to do something about that while I am trying to be more careful and more tolerant. I cannot guarantee that I will be better all the time but I will try.
Drive safe everyone and live to enjoy the Christmas holidays; together maybe we can accomplish it.
Comments (4)
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Tis the season indeed. I hope everyone takes a look at your article and reflects on their own behaviour. I've been reading your column for a while but only today did I want to register, and I'm glad you're the first blog I commented on. Thankfully the holiday season brings on good times with family. I thought you and your readers might benefit from something I came across. I like to share and this is what I found. Gift-giving can be tough and there's this offer going through Bell TV for a free satelitte system and free movies and free install. Great to give to someone, like a spouse or friend, because there's no rental fee this time, which is rare, apparently. I have it, and I wish I would have waited closer to the holidays to give my hubby a gift. You just take the survey and they call you.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CZYXkhorKby253h4Q3KB2Q_3d_3d
Happy Holidays, and don't be too down on yourself. We're only human. :)
M
You know, you just made my night. That was one of the nicest comments that I have recieved. I wish that everyone could read what I have written this time and reflect on their driving so we all can enjoy a nice healthy holiday with our family and friends.
Thanks also for the holiday blessing and consider it warmly returned.
[we already have satelitte but that would be a nice gift.]
You cannot change other people's actions but you can change the way you let them affect you. Like you, I used to get stressed while driving but have taught myself to accept the mistakes of others and how they affect me. When someone would try to pass me in town by switching lanes, I use to limit the space in front of me to prevent them from cutting in. All that did was make me a tailgater and increase my stress. Now I ensure that even if they do cut in, I'm still a safe distance behind them.
Work to reduce the stress that you experience while driving, it will make you a safer driver and save lives. I suggest you research Zen and driving. The more calm and aware you are while behind the wheel, the safer you will be.
That's good stuff that you wrote and I couldn't agree more. Actually, I do pray when I am stressed and God has heard me and it is not long before I am calm and relaxed again but all my stress does not come from rude drivers but from the drivers that do not know how close they came to being a statistic under my truck. I have to drive to keep those around me alive. Most crashes that I have seen, when one vehicle is a transport truck the people in the other vehicle die because the transport is so large and immovable.
Also, most of my stress comes from my job, load and schedule at this busy time of year. I am trying hard not to care so much about my delivery customers but it is hard because I like them. I'm working 11 and 12 hours a day just to keep up and some days I can't deliver all my frieght. That's why I have to put the lives of the drivers and pedestrians around me first to protect them.