A kitten that 'just' survived and a random masked guy in my friends yard at 2am.

I sat at the traffic lights near my house today ready to rush off down the highway to work as I usually do.  The cars to my right started to pull out into the intersection when I suddenly noticed a kitten, about 6 months old, running in tandem underneath the red car in the front of the line. 


Strangely the kitten managed to keep up with the red car till the point when it's spine hit the underside of the car causing it to somersault over itself. I put my hands to my face, hardly daring to look at the blood bath I expected to occur next, and gasped.


To my shock the kitten managed to get back on its feet and run out to the left of the car without getting hit by the back tire and continued to run alongside the cars following the red car into the intersection. The kitten looked around itself several times but continued running without getting hit until it reached the median divider and took refuge beside a street lamp.


I was shook up and could hardly believe that the kitten had made it. Then my light turned green and I drove off to work wishing I could have stopped to pick the kitten up and take it to the vet.


As I continued my drive to work, this nearly tragic event early this morning got me thinking about how out of control our lives become when we get into a car. We think we've got it sorted, but one wrong move and we could be ploughing into cars or people. We think so mindlessly about getting into a car and driving that it's only in situations like this that we see the frailty of life when it comes into contact with transportation.


The person driving the red car or people driving any of the cars following it were unlikely to know the cat was under their car or if the cat had been hit. It's also unlikely anyone but a devoted animal lover would have stopped to help the kitten, especially not if the kitten became road kill.


(There are many homeless cats and dogs here in Oman, which we call jebel or wadi cats/dogs (jebel = mountain/wadi = river bed in Arabic) and a good number end up as road kill.)


It really put into perspective the problems I've been having with road rage. Most of which stem from impatience at other drivers who don't respect the traffic laws or other drivers on the road. It also stems from a false sense of control and confidence that it is important to have when you get behind the wheel of the car. We've all seen drivers who are so fearful of the machine they are driving that they end up causing traffic problems.


I think it's important to have confidence and feel in control of your actions behind the wheel, but also have respect for the fact that you can only have control if you stay focused and in control of your emotions. The emotional mind is not one we should be using while driving. 


Therefore in honor of the little kitten that managed to survive what must have been a horrible ordeal today, I vow to try much harder to stay calm while behind the wheel and make sure that I stay in control of not only the car but also my emotions while driving. 


Mindfulness is the answer!


Speaking of mindfulness, it is such an important thing for women to practice, especially if single and living alone. Last night a masked man was wandering about my friend's backyard. She is single and lives alone. The area she lives in is rather sketchy, and luckily she has a dog to keep the intruders away, but it's a reminder for women to always be mindful of their surroundings and make sure they are taking the measures required to keep themselves safe. There's just no saying who will pray on your weaknesses.


It's amazing the tenacity of character that is required to make it through the day!

The Rewards of Anger

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!