Blast Past Road Rage
Learn to blow off highway hostility

(42 minute audio cassette tape)

On the road, trying to get somewhere, your fellow citizen is merely another obstacle in your way blocking traffic up ahead of you. And when someone cuts in, or honks at you, and is intentionally rude, it can be infuriating. Do you ever succumb to this horrible condition called road rage?

You can you talk yourself out of your irritation and anger, and into a freer and more pleasant state of mind. If you want to step away from road rage, here are some reminders.

Heavy traffic is bad enough. If you have to spend the time infuriated and miserable, that makes it even worse. If you can spend the time mellow, that should be better, right?

Suppose you were given 30 minutes, twice a day, to do whatever you wish. The only requirements are that you are to remain seated, with your eyes open, and occasionally adjust a wheel to stay on track or adjust two foot pedals to maintain a standard span to the object ahead. So far, how bad does it sound?

What if you could choose to pass those 30 minutes pleasantly, listening to music or meditating, versus frustrated, infuriated, and highly stressed. Which would you choose? To spend it pleasantly, I assume.

Now, what if the pleasant option will actually take an extra minute, meaning 31 pleasant minutes in all, whereas the high stress option will only take the bare bones minimum of 30 minutes. So you must choose between 31 pleasant, enjoyable minutes, versus 30 frustrating, aggravating minutes. Is the choice still as obvious as it appears?

If you chose the 31 pleasant minutes, continue. You are a prisoner of your own frustrations and anger. How do your break your emotional shackles, and set yourself free?

Realize that you do not know any of those folks in those tangled lines of cars and you will never see them again. That may sound like an open opportunity to be as big an idiot as you wish, with no social consequences. And so it is. But it is also an opportunity to be as calm as you wish, and ignore the whole competitive masquerade, with no social consequences. You are not in a contest with the other drivers, to see who can get ahead, and the whole maze of traffic is not your audience. So far as you choose to be peaceful, you can do so with no loss of standing. Cars that struggle so to get ahead of you are not winning great acclaim for their victories, and you are not losing anything by allowing it. So far as you remain at peace while the competition is stressed, you are coming out ahead. Tally it as a victory.

Suppose humility is the ability to accept life's insults without being psychologically harmed by them. Some bozo cutting in front of you is surely one of the smallest, most insignificant, itsy bitsy, tiny insults you are apt to ever face anywhere. The proud individual cannot bear to let the insult go unanswered, and springs into foolish action to seek redress. The humble individual can brush it off and remain comfortable.

Can you accept the smallest of insults without being psychologically harmed by it? If so, great! If not, this is a good time to practice. So far as humility is a virtue. Learning to accept these minor injustices builds character.

Is the road poorly designed properly to handle the flow of traffic? Realize that our community did not reach too far into its pockets to engineer and build this particular road for our comfort and convenience. We are not that important, and neither is anybody else. Get comfortable with our own small place in the grand scheme of things!

And finally, learn personal shielding to deflect hostility. Step into a peaceful, comfortable state, totally unstressed. Create a symbolic shield around aourself that protects you from anything angry or threatening. Imagine an angry driver insulting you, and practice deflecting the insult and remaining unprovoked. Use the helpful training cassette to guide your practice and improve the benefits.