I love driving. It is one of my favorite things to do. I like driving anything with wheels. I even like driving boats and airplanes. But I mostly like driving cars.
One of the things I like least about driving however is other drivers. As George Carlin said: ” Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”
For years I felt like it was my duty to teach the world to drive better. If someone cut me off or was going too fast or too slow compared to me, I wanted to try to show them that my way was the right way. I would often arrive at my destination tired and agitated.
I have now come up with a mind trick that helps me cope with other drivers. I assume they are all computer generated non-player characters. They are like the
Thinking this way, I expect other drivers to behave completely randomly. I can;t get mad at therm beciouse they have no personality. Just a compter generated existance. Their purpose is to make my drive more interesting.
Elon Musks has stated that we live in a computer-generated simulation so this mindset fits in with his way of looking at the world.
Treating them like
Releasing my need to analyze what they might be thinking frees up brain power to better control my own car. It also aids in emotional detachment.
By emotionally detaching from the other drivers, I can be more relaxed and patient. Reducing the importance of the effect that other drivers have on me is very calming and relaxing. I can enjoy
Building on this mindset, I have developed another way to look at traffgic delays. Instead of getting annoyed at traffic lights that take too long to turn green or the occasional car that appears out of nowhere to slow down and make a left turn in front of me, I think of this as a loading screen.
As I sit waiting, I imagine a big circle superimposed on my windshield and a loading icon below. Or a loading… bar moving across the dash. I imagine the caption saying, “we are preparing something really great for you.”
By using these two mindset tricks, I can arrive much more relaxed after a six hour drive than ever in the past. Now to start applying this to my daily commute.
