Lessons From Rush Hour Traffic

Yesterday I was sitting in rush hour traffic at 5pm. Radio up, windows down (just kidding! It was raining and cold and dark because we live in the great white NORTH!). Anyway... I used to get super duper annoyed during rush hour and would have a sour attitude the whole drive home. But then I decided that's a not-so-wonderful way to end my day/start my evening 3 days a week, so I decided to change my attitude about rush hour.

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I used to not want to let people in, especially those people who totally skip the whole forever-long line to get onto the interstate—those people that accelerate past you, only to cut in right as the entrance ramp approaches. Those people who don't use their blinker. Those people who make you miss the green light by one car. ONE CAR, people!

So I could choose to see these people as selfish jerks, OR I could choose to see them as children of God who are in a hurry to get home. I could see it as an opportunity to love and bless them because, who knows? Maybe they are even more excited to get home to their hunny than I am (doubtful), or maybe their babysitter will charge them an extra hour if they are 5 minutes late. Or maybe their commute is a lot longer than mine and they just want to get home and relax because they had a really terrible day at the office.

But whatever the reason they are in such a rush, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is my attitude toward them. I can get angry and bitter and self-righteous about my polite driving compared to theirs, or I could just have grace toward them. I could show them love and let them in and maybe make their day a little better and hopefully they'll pass that on.

And all of this makes driving home just a little bit better. It gives rush hour traffic a little more meaning in my mind, and if anything can make rush hour better, then hey, I'll take it.

So what opportunities do you have today to love and bless others when what you really want to do is get even or get mad? How can you change your attitude about a situation today? How can you show someone grace today? Even if it's as small as letting someone cut in front of you with a smile on your face—you know what they say—ya' gotta start somewhere.