Last Friday I had many miles of roads to cover around Aiken and Augusta and, although this might be a wee bit of hyperbole, it is unintentional, I assure you: I think 90% of the traffic lights I encountered were RED. And they were reds of the most annoying variety, like:
A.) the light that turns red one second too soon to motor through with a clean conscience. Just one more second and you could have gone through. But no.
B.) the so-called “stale red” that was already red the first time you saw it off in the distance and will surely be green by the time you reach it. Annoyingly, it stays completely red while you maneuver into an open lane so you can blow through the intersection at full speed in a perfectly coordinated move at the precise instant it turns green, never having touched your brakes, leaving the hapless fools in the other lanes to marvel at your extraordinary prescience and motoring skills. What happens instead? Faced with a light that stubbornly refuses to turn green, you have no choice but to slam on your brakes at the last second as you approach the red light, which then turns green at exactly the moment you come to a complete stop. GRRRRRRRR!
Fortunately for me, once upon a time in Augusta, Georgia, my next door neighbor was the eminent psychologist Dr. Ralph Bruno, whose specialty is stress management. Dr. Bruno, who now works at the Charlie Norwood VA, taught me some simple relaxation techniques that I use to this day. I can’t begin to share his expertise through this medium, but he taught me some truly effective breathing exercises that are to stress what water is to a fire: they douse it.
Adding to their effectiveness, he taught me to use these exercises during specific stressful and annoying everyday moments, including at red lights. So instead of traffic signals – even the really annoying ones – adding to my frustration and stress level, they can actually be refreshing. If you have a relaxation technique that works for you* (one that doesn’t involve closing your eyes), try it every time you’re stopped for a red light in traffic. We will all benefit.
* …and if you don’t, get one!