Wednesday's Wellness: "Lighten Up - Road Rage Can Damage Your Health!"

Ok, so I live in Baltimore. Just so happens, Baltimore often ranks near the top of the list when it comes to cities with the worst traffic in the country. We most always hit the top 20, with a new report from Highway Administration ranking us right at the top of the list!

I live here. I understand this. I drive here. I've come to accept it... HOWEVER, I do so by conducting myself with a diplomacy that comes
through sheer discipline alone, a lady-like dignity and a good dose of
decorum. I wouldn't dare leave my home to hit these frenetic "Nascar speedways"
unless I first prayerfully considered asking for the willpower it takes to
produce a good attitude AND a hope that others might respond in kind.

Unfortunately, what I find is a situation that's given birth to behaviors bordering on barbaric.

Those of us who choose to refrain from ACTING OUT already suffer from what should and can best be described as BATTERED ROAD SYNDROME! We've been shot the bird, had expletives shrieked at us and been so closely tail gated that a single hiccup could cause a three car pile up.

And yet a new phenomenon has crept in among the road rage roadsters and I for
one have had it with their already inappropriate, childish, dangerous and down
right abhorrent “Road side manner!"

It's what I call the 3 second rule. Goes like this: (and it happens to me at
least two to three times a day now, without fail) You are sitting at a red
light, the light turns green...1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one
BBEEEEEEEPPPPP!!!!! YEP, if you don't get your foot from brake to gas petal in
less than 3 seconds, the horn behind you goes off!

Experienced it? My family has and I've taken a survey, lots of us have. It takes at least two or three seconds to move one’s foot from brake to gas, so my suggestion is to take a deep breath and ask yourself what you think you're going to do with that dubious nanosecond you believe you just gained. I also implore you to consider the health risks you’re taking by giving full vent to your anger that obviously has NOTHING to do with red, green or any colored lights, road signs, traffic delays or the inadvertent experiences such as being “cut off” by an other wise innocent driver who just found their blind spot (and you just happened to be in it).

IF you think that you can't sit still for three seconds without blowing your
horn, I wonder what your family experiences at the end of a long day, when you
blow in the front door and let it rip? Gerry Smith, vice president of
Organizational Health at Warren Shepell, is a consultant on workplace violence
and spends most of his time teaching organizations how to make their workplaces
safer, including how to drive safely. Smith says, “Road rage can affect your
health both inside and outside your vehicle." So True.

We know that stress - manifested in various forms - can cause,
contribute to, or exacerbate elevated blood pressure, various issues with pain,
heart disease, digestive problems, sleep problems, depression, obesity, etc.

Many feel that road rage is a behavior that you either have and can’t
control, or something you just don’t tend to experience. This of course would
imply that those of us who don’t participate in such behavior, are just the type
of folks who aren’t bothered by aggressive and annoying road related
happenstance. To that may I say a short but sweet “BULL HONKY” (yes, my dad’s
Oklahoma influence is showing once again)! Choices are all around us every day.

I mentioned on Monday that “Happiness is a Choice," is one of my favorite reads.
I don’t know if it exists, but I would suspect it would be easy enough to write
“Anger is a choice” as well. We all have the ability to change. Abstaining from
participating in destructive behaviors; be it overeating, slothfulness, working
too much or controlling one's temper when it comes to issues we CHOOSE to
PERCEIVE as catastrophic (more on that idea on next Monday’s post - FYI), are
within our power to overcome.

When it comes to the notion that one can ‘decide’ to either let it fly or to
refrain from such antics, it’s nice to know that Smith agrees. When asked if one
can choose to control oneself, even in the heat of the moment, he had this to
say: "I believe you can. I believe you have an instantaneous second of choice to
make, you either make the choice to be angry or make the choice to let it go and
I think all of us can do that. Anger is something we choose to do. Anger is
something we let happen. Most people think it's something that's beyond their
control but it's not."

Wellness itself is also a choice – a decision one makes to move toward
optimal health.

Make the choice to begin to work towards a state of balance today. Truly
there is no time like the present. Do so, in all areas of your life. Though it’s
not easy, it’s well worth the effort. Living a healthy, abundant life entails a
balanced focus in all areas of our existence: intellectual, social, spiritual,
emotional, physical and occupational. Life is short. SO, I beg you, lay off the
horn and take a little time to smell the exhaust….it is a beginning - not only
for yourself, but for the rest of us as well!

Until next time,

Power on,

Candace

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