12
LET HIM HAVE HIS ACCIDENT SOMEWHERE ELSE

When I was thirteen years old, my parents took me to a seminar that was designed to help people learn more perspective. I remember only one thing from that seminar—but that one thing has stuck with me like gum on my shoes. It’s helped me, virtually every day, since that time.

The man doing the teaching was talking about how irritating and frustrating it can be when you’re driving and people come up too fast behind you. They tailgate you and might even flash their lights. In some instances, they even honk their horn or flip you off. We’re talking about real jerks.

The instructor asked the question, “What can you do in a situation like this?” People in the audience offered a variety of vindictive solutions, such as “Slam on your brakes,” “Turn on your tail lights so the driver will think you’re slamming on your brakes,” “Slow down to annoy him,” and “Flip him off too.”

His response is the insight that I’ve never forgotten. He said in a calm voice, “Why not simply stay calm, pull over, and let him go have his accident somewhere else?” What a brilliant suggestion. Think about it. It’s virtually guaranteed that someone that angry and aggressive is going to have an accident. Why would you want to be involved? Why would you want anything to do with someone like that?

In this day and age of road rage, this strategy is particularly important. Fighting back can only make matters worse and escalate an already dangerous situation. I drive quite a bit and have implemented this strategy dozens of times over the years. And to this day, it’s never failed me. The jerks behind me always whiz by and are out of my life forever. What could be easier?

Learning to stop sweating the small stuff involves deciding what things to engage and what things to ignore. It’s important to know when to pursue something and when to back off. In this case, you’re not backing off as much as you are pulling over. In any event, you’ll be glad you did.