How to Beat Traffic Induced Stress

We all have stress and we all experience traffic.  We really cannot correct the traffic issue (unless we move to a farm in the Midwest somewhere), but we can put a more positive spin on the way we handle it.
I lived in a Washington, D.C. suburb for most of my life and fought traffic everyday of the week.  Now I live in an area that has 5 major tunnels and even more bridges connecting all the nearby cities.  Vehicles automatically slow down when approaching a tunnel and that creates miles of backups during peak times.  I can assure you I am an expert on this subject.
Here are a few ways to help all of us handle the stress of traffic just a little bit better:

• Be thankful that you are now sitting in traffic and not sitting at your desk dealing with a whiny coworker
• Count your blessings and make a mental list of all the things you are grateful for – moving forward might be one of them
• Play the license plate game
• Turn the radio off completely, sit in silence and ponder life, or at least why there is a random tennis shoe on the side of the road
• Smile at the person in the car next to you
• Laugh at everyone who is singing to themselves, then do it yourself
• Just in case you have no sense of humor:
• To the guy that just cut you off, assume he is having a worse day than you are
• To the woman putting on her makeup, pray that she makes it to work safely
• Avoid changing lanes just to get ahead; your actual arrival time will only change by seconds and it is safer to just go with the flow
• Change the radio to classical or a jazz station – even the DJ’s have soothing voices

Fortunately, traffic has a time limit.  Eventually everyone makes it to their destination and things get better.  If you are lucky enough to sit in traffic longer than normal, it might be too late to cook dinner and you can order pizza.