Traffic time again and you’re getting fidgety because there is nothing you can think of doing. You forgot your book and you don’t feel like turning on the radio. Well then, just get mental. I don’t mean for you to freak out, although that is easy to do so in this situation. Just try the following suggestions:
1. Use your imagination. Escape from the reality of being stuck in your Toyota surrounded by jeepneys on Shaw Boulevard. Close your eyes and float along the sea in the beaches of Palawan or soar upwards toward Sagada. Better yet, have an out-of-body experience without having to die first. Just relax, empty your mind, feel your body vibrate and slowly climb out of your physical self. It might be a bit cramped inside a vehicle but it might be fun to see close up how you look like asleep. They say this experience will be good for you psychically and will give you a different insight to your life. Yeah, right. Just don’t start preaching about heaven and hell when you wake up.
2. Turn on the windshield wipers and hypnotize yourself. Now this can be a bit tricky if there is no one to wake you up. But apparently you can pre-time the session by telling yourself your eyelids will open in say, ten minutes. Suggest the session’s goal to yourself — ie, quit smoking, cure yourself of OCD, or stop having murderous thoughts about your boss. Then turn on the wipers and do whatever it is people do in a hypnotic state. Hopefully, you wake up healed of whatever addiction is ruining your life. It would be very wise to keep the session short because the light might suddenly turn green and you will be rudely interrupted by a blast of car horns.
3. Use this time for introspection. If you are going through a teenage, mid-life or existential crisis, now might be a good time to ponder on the meaning of your life. Should you take that redundancy package and settle down in a farm in Tagaytay? That seems to be everyone’s retirement dream but will you be fulfilled planting vegetables and herbs for the rest of your life? Is it time to get rid of the boyfriend so you can study harder, get a job and be able to afford a Prada? Heck, do you really want to remain poor all your life? These are very important questions and you just might find the answers in the time it takes for traffic to move.
4. Enjoy the scenery. There is virtually no traffic on country roads. Most likely, you are in the middle of the central business district so look around you. Gaze up and appreciate the geometry of the skyscapers above. Look out at the sea of vehicles and appreciate the variety in sizes, shapes and colors. Never mind the pollution. Try to develop a feel for architecture and technology and find beauty in them. If you learn to enjoy this setting, you can be at peace in any kind of landscape.
5. If you don’t feel like doing any of the above, you can just try breathing. Take large deep breaths. It cleanses your body, improves your posture, makes your lungs and heart stronger. Above all, it releases all that tension you are feeling right now. Besides, breathing is easy. It won’t kill you to do it.
How do you entertain yourself when you’re stuck in traffic? Tell us here at http://manila.coconuts.co/contribute or send an email to manila@coconuts.co.
Ilustration: Neil Agonoy
MORE WAYS TO DEAL WITH TRAFFIC:
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– Stuck in traffic? Tell us a joke
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– Stuck in traffic? Sleep
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