Road Rage! (of a sort)

Be more aware! My other half is a photographer, who relies on her car to get her to shoots etc. She always has a good think about whether or not she is too tired to drive, and if she is, she'll have a little nap first or travel by some other means. I'm not personally a driver, but should we be so flippant about this, so accepting that sometimes you have to drive when you're tired? I'm not just talking a little bit tired, I'm talking tired enough to actually be in danger of falling asleep, losing concentration, causing a multiple pile-up, potentially killing people. Obviously there's humour to be found in every aspect of life, but generally speaking this is not a laughing matter. * * * Brooosh... you don't allow yourself to get into that situation in the first place! You think about how tired you are before you set off, and at each potential stopping point. Be more aware of what your body's telling you! pe ps oid Blogs! "the art of tea" "that's an odd courgette"

Like I said, such defensiveness... :-/ I accept life isn't perfect, but when lives are literally at stake, shouldn't we perhaps regular re-assess to what extent we are doing our best to save them? So many accidents/deaths are caused by this sort of thing, so I don't think we should ever just say, "We're doing the best we can"... * * * "I'm just here thinking about the sort of life where you can take odd naps whenever you feel dozy - that would be sweet." Err... no... my girlfriend doesn't take naps whenever she feels dozy... she works damned hard! But she - as should we all - constantly and frequently thinks about if/when it's possible to take a nap, travel by different means, etc. * * * I could get pretty angry about this, but I'll try to maintain a sense of Zen calm... ...ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... * * * We all just need to try and be more mindful... everyone... no exceptions... Life can be slower... Slowing down can save lives and minds... If you don't believe me, look here! - www.slowdownnow.org * * * pe ps oid Blogs! "the art of tea" "that's an odd courgette"

Okay, I’ll calm down… :-)))))))) I suppose my anger has stemmed not so much from people not agreeing with me (which, believe it or not, is not what I expect or even hope for – I mean, who would I have to argue with if everyone agreed with me?)… but rather being confronted with what seems to be a wall of defensiveness. Most people probably are pretty responsible drivers, but my comments seem to be being met with a feeling of, “We’re doing the best we can, and what do you know anyway, you non-driver you?” On the first point… On any issues where we are directly responsible for human lives, I don’t think we should ever accept that we are “doing the best we can.” We should constantly re-assess if we could do any better. In fact, I personally believe we should have this approach to any issues which have a moral element. I apologise if I am mistaken and, in fact, you all do constantly re-assess your actions, but the responses above seem to imply otherwise. Secondly… no, I’m not a driver. But am I not allowed to have an opinion on something for which I do not have direct experience? I do potentially have direct experience of the consequences of driving – I could be the victim of a road accident as much as anyone; and I live in a world where I am frequently affected, in different ways, by motor vehicles… Does this not entitle me to express an opinion on how those people behind those wheels should behave? No, I have no direct experience of driving, but I do have experience of feeling suddenly overwhelmed by tiredness. I tend to be of the belief, however, that extreme tiredness doesn’t (generally) suddenly arrive; but rather, we suddenly become aware of it. We may have switched ourselves off from its more gradual appearance, with adrenaline or caffeine or whatever, then, for whatever reason, our bodies suddenly become aware of just how tired we are. Is being in a car such a special, unique experience, that causes our bodies to behave differently than in other circumstances? Please enlighten me if this is the case! My feeling is, however (re 2Lou’s request for tips), that between doing whatever we were doing before driving and getting in the car, we should always take a little time to meditate, close our eyes, slow down our breathing, and make ourselves aware of our bodies. I’d say this should apply not just to driving, but whenever we are about to set off on some task which, if performed when tired, would potentially be dangerous (such as chopping wood, doing a bungee jump, switching on a circular saw or whatever). In a more general sense, I think that consciously being more mindful of our bodies and the messages they are sending us can be beneficial in all sorts of ways. * * * Another thing which seems to have riled/confused one or two people is the mention of my girlfriend! Let me first of all clarify that I think it is entirely possibly to be busy/hard-working and slow. This possibly seems like a contradiction! When I say “slow,” perhaps it would be more accurate/appropriate to say “mindful.” An age-old cliché, which holds a lot of truth, is the adage… More haste, less speed I know from direct experience, and the indirect experience of my other half, that whenever one consciously and mindfully slows down, stops rushing about and stops trying to do so many things at once (multi-tasking? Pft!), one actually gets more done. Perhaps more importantly, the quality of one’s work improves. This may seem like an obvious thing to say, but it is something which, particularly in the workplace, is so frequently ignored. Once again, don’t take my word for it… www.slowdownnow.org. Finally (don’t be too noisy in your sighs of relief!)… Do I believe that if everyone did things like me and my girlfriend, then the world would be a better place? Well… obviously. Or more to the point (because I can’t truly speak for my girlfriend), I believe that if everyone did things how I did them, then the world would be a better place. If I didn’t believe in the way I did things, then I wouldn’t do them that way. Isn’t this a circular argument? Of course, I also absolutely believe in the possibility that I am wrong… pe ps oid Blogs! "the art of tea" "that's an odd courgette"

I don't quite understand what you're saying, Mark... Can't a feeling lead to wanting to take practical action, or to suggest action that others might take?... "I feel sad about the seagulls, and this feeling has led me to think we should stop throwing oil in the sea." ...? Maddan... I take your point, but... is my position so different from the vast majority of non-politicians, non-Prime Minsters, etc, commenting on what such folk get up to & should get up to? pe ps oid Blogs! "the art of tea" "that's an odd courgette"

I'm not offering it to the average Chinese factory worker! If a philosophy doesn't work for a particular section of society, should that philosophy be abandoned? To simplify... a huge number of deaths on the roads are caused by tiredness. Obviously tiredness can't be eliminated. The crux of my argument is that everyone who gets behind a wheel should never presume that they can't do more to reduce their chances of driving whilst tired. We should never presume we are doing enough. This, I believe, applies to most things in life. I'm getting off this road now... pe ps oid Blogs! "the art of tea" "that's an odd courgette"