A car pulls out in front of us, almost hitting us. This moment is a great example of how important our point of view is to our happiness and success. Let’s review a few different points of view we might take:
We could see the other driver as a jerk.
We could see them as an old person who shouldn’t be driving.
We could see them as mentally challenged and cut them some slack.
We could see them as just getting the news an important family member died.
I could list limitless examples of the different points of view we could take. Which one would be right? How could we ever know? Since we can’t possibly know, would having a point of view that settled us down so we could enjoy the rest of the ride make sense? Or do we want to lose control and dive into some level of road rage? Why wouldn’t we choose a point of view that made us feel good? Why do we always want to express our anger? It’s the difference between a relaxing drive and a totally chaotic one. Although our wiring has us choose anger, through practice, I’m learning to enjoy the experience of driving by choosing a context that supports my enjoyment.