It was my first day back at work today after a good long two week holiday for winter break. I definitely won't complain about that, but I definitely did complain about the drive to work this morning!
It's funny how short our memories can be when it comes to the things that spark our rage and anger. Although I've been practicing the art of catching myself in the moment before an emotion, stopping it before it takes over me, and sitting back and watching it before allowing it to pass on by, this was not the case this morning!
I was honking and hollering as buses and cars too impatient to wait in the off ramp for an upcoming roundabout continued on up the highway until the last possibly moment, at which point they ground to a halt along with all the traffic behind them until they managed to push their way into the queue of patient people lined up in the off ramp.
Let's just say I'm lucky to have arrived at work alive after several close calls in which I nearly drove into the back of these nuisance drivers. Unfortunately, this is typical of driving here in Oman. It's a blessing I get out of my car alive everyday and I don't take that for granted. The number of road accidents here in Oman is so large every month that the people up top have recently called conferences to try and figure out what they can do to prevent these accidents. Oman is literally killing off it's people with transportation.
In my two weeks holiday, I had forgotten how bad the early morning commute could be and it was a huge annoyance to discover this again. However, in some ways this was actually a reward for me.
It's so easy to sit back and think that we're doing the best we can with our practice of patience and compassion, and in dealing with our emotions. My early morning commute proved how wrong my thinking was. My ego had been doing all the talking and my anger put me in my place.
Of all the situations I find myself in these days, driving is the one that humbles me the most, and makes me realize how much more work I need to do in order to find compassion and have patience for the world around me. Not easy at 7:20am on a Saturday morning before the first day back to work!
I really do need to work on my road rage, but for as much as I've read about how to practice peace and tranquility on the highway, it's not an easy practice to put into place.
I really wish I could stop myself before I hit the horn, or before I shout out an F-bomb, but I guess that's the point of practicing - you're not supposed to be perfect for the first few hundred times (I'll say a hundred cause it's going to take me a while!).
Therefore, I guess what's important is not necessarily to stop road raging from tomorrow, but to remember the humility and strength of character it takes to hit those brakes, take a deep breath, sit back and remember that no matter what the other driver does getting angry only ruins my day.
Here's to hoping that tomorrow morning I'll at least be more aware of needing to hit the breaks sooner!
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