Posted by Peter Clothier
In the meantime, I had cause to think about the site on the freeway yesterday, headed back to Los Angeles from Laguna Beach. I had anticipated a relatively easy drive. It was a holiday, after all, Presidents' Day, so I thought there would be less traffic and we'd get home in a breeze. No such luck. Two accidents ahead of us--one with a motorcycle down in the middle lanes, another collision involving, it seemed, three cars--assured interminable delays. What should have been a one-hour drive turned into two.
I'm not good behind the wheel, I admit it. I am by nature somewhat less than patient--as my wife, Ellie, will attest--and traffic is the single greatest stimulus to that impatient side of my temperament. I fume. I flatter myself that I do it less now than I used to, and that my meditation practice has served to improve my language somewhat (think Right Speech!), but I do still tend to allow my frustration to surface via the mouth. I have been known to, well, swear...
Now for the gift. I give myself good marks for yesterday. I exercised remarkable equanimity, given the provocation. I watched for the impatience to arise and was impressed when it did not. True, I was in no particular hurry to get home, and things might have turned out very differently if I had arranged for, say, an appointment in the afternoon. But even so, I am happy to give credit where it's due. It seems that I actually have changed, a bit. And it was a pleasure to observe it.
1 comment:
The thing I can't figure out about the freeways in CA is that traffic just slows down for no reason. When I lived on the East Coast, at least there was usually an accident or stalled car or something. But, here in LA, traffic just slows to a stop for nothing. It's extremely frustrating.
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