Hi folks,
I have read SOGR a few times and listened to Reb read it on the audio CD when I'm driving.

One thing comes to mind everytime I drive, I live in Sydney and find that traffic is terrible at times and I find that I have to guard the space in front of me, not allowing others to cut in front of me.

Is this a competitive reaction? Is this something Wally would be consider competitive behaviour?

Hi NSWViper,

Are you late? Why must you guard? How does that help you in your travels?

Hi NSWViper. Yes I think so. Why don't you take several days and just let things be. if someone wants to get in front of you while driving, let them. Let things flow and don't force it. You'll see that the Cosmos eventually goes your way. ;-)

- Urayoan

I agree with Urayoan.

For one thing you will arrive at your destination in a far happier relaxed state.

Also if you are chivalrous to other road users you will find people let you in when you want to move into traffic, or whatever.

Food for thought: We have bumper to bumper traffic here at rush hour (up until now). I drive with the thought in mind to make space for everyone who needs to come in. I use the time to listen to music and audios. I enjoy the journey. And I find people let me in. I also enjoy studying the patterns of the lanes. Traffic is a great place to practice thinking and acting in a certain way. Similarly, if people are too close to my car or trying to get me to move, I practice responding and not allowing outside influence to determine my mood, how fast I drive or what lane to be in.

Great school I tell ya

Interesting to note looking from these replies that we have people from all over the planet earth and even the moon that have traffic to deal with.

It is part of life - something to be grateful for!!!!

Wow, the other day I just had an accident because I was being a bit careless, and bit impatient and a bit hasty.

I ran into the back of someone who had to stop suddenly as they were turning off to the left (in England)

The other guy broke the tail-light cover. Because of the angle of impact I ended up with dents in 4 panels -the bonnet (or hood) the wing, and the two front panels. This is on a camper van import which is around 12 years old, which means it may be "beyond economic repair".

Ho hum, lessons to be learned.

Do I need to hear the comments. Although I know what I need to do sometimes I forget and last night coming home I was aggravated by a fellow in front that wouldn't move over to the right lane so I moved to the right lane and accelerated just over the speed limit...Yes you guessed it right I now own the government $138.00.
Yep I am changing my way and driving in traffic is part of the change. A bumper sticker I have seen "I drive to get there"
Thank you for the reminder
BT

[QUOTE]..that I have to guard the space in front of me[QUOTE]

Wealth Apprentice:

Yep, sounds competitive to me!

There's plenty of 'space' for everyone & if you choose to focus on how great it feels to arrive at your destination safely & on time, you won't even notice the cars that cut infront of you. After all, if you get where you need to be on time & safely, do you really care if someone cuts infront of you?

Jan

quote:

Wealth Apprentice

If everybody thought the way you did "guarding your space"; this would be a very angry world.

Sure there's alot of people out there thinking that way. But then there's some of us who are victims because of this certain type of attitude.

I don't mean to sound rude (I hope I'm not) but my husband acts the same way. He's impatient all the time.

Greetings!
I made a cool experience last year when I had to drive 30 minutes on the Autobahn (Germany) to teach a yoga class. There was serious traffic and I was going to be late.....so the stress level went up. For some reason, I could not contact the students with the cell phone, at first, when I found myself in the traffic jam. At that point, I remembered that I lived in an abundant world and that meant that time was exspansive. I remember praying that I would arrive in the perfect time and that time could expand or contract as needed and that IF I lived in a world where there was enough of all things, then there must be enough time. I told myself there was enough time and that I would arrive in that perfect time. After I realised that, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. After I got off the Autobahn, I had approx. 10 more minutes driving time until I should arrive at my destination. I tried to phone one of the students and did manage to get one of the students on the phone and told her I would arrive in ten minutes. I described where I was on the road and the student agreed, that I was 10 minutes away....Now, here is the weird part:
I suddenly "came to" at the parking lot of the building where the yoga class was held. I could not remember the ride after I spoke to the student. And I wondered if I just "spaced out". When I got to the yoga room, where all the students were waiting for me to show up, the woman whom I had spoken to looked very perplexed. She asked me how did I manage to get there so fast. I looked at my watch: less than 4 minutes had elapsed since I had phoned her, and I HAD arrived exactly on the hour. That meant that in spite of the LONG delay as a result of the traffic jam, I did arrive "on time!" According to the laws of physics, I could and should not have arrived at the time I did. Somehow, time expanded! I know, I know, this sounds weird, but this happened to me, and it was real. I KNOW there is enough time and I will always arrive at the perfect time. I think this miracle could happen because I let go, and relaxed. I was okay with whatever happened, even if it meant I was so-called "late". I learned time is very malable, and we always have perfect timing. So, not only is there an abbundance of space for all, there is an abundance of time.
Peace to us all,
mjoy

Hi all,
What I find is great when I'm "stuck" in traffic is play the gratitude game ie. I look at the number plate in front of me and choose a random number from it and correspond that number to a letter in the alphabeth and then choose to think of 5 things beginning with that letter that I am grateful for in my life. For example if the number is "4" I think of 5 things beginning with the letter "D" that I am grateful for in my life. You also can add numbers together like 6 + 9 which is equal to 15 which corresponds to the letter "O" in the alphabeth. I find it gives me the unique opportunity to practice gratitude and remaining positive and peaceful at the same time.

Hi All!

I think the most important point here is the reason why you think you should guard the space in front of you. If you think "Because I don't want to be late", then you concentrate on being late and whatever you do having this thought in mind you will be late. This thought awakes a resistance inside you and bad feeling. That bad feeling causes you to think bad about others. You think they are disturbing you from being on time. You think bad about yourself, because you think if you let others to disturb you then you are unworthy (maybe). These feelings cause more resistance and this resistance manifests in your actions in guarding the space.

But if you think "I will come on time" if it is really important to you, and believe it, this thought is in alignment with your real desire. This thought causes no resistance. This causes good feelings and you will be in a good mood. In this case others will not cut in front of you, or you will not be bothered by it. Because you know you will come on time.

You see the thought of competition is a result of concentrating on wrong thought, that is not in alignment with your real desire.

Look at your feeling by your actions and thoughts. Bad feelings cause the competition.

Wishing you the best
Farkhod

All you need to know about wealth and how to create it

Hello!

After going to work on a commuter bus for several years I needed to drive to an assignment for a couple of months. I did not like the idea because I did not like driving in commuter traffic at all. I was new to SOGR at that time. Someone posted about traffic and was using a driving "rule" which I had completely forgotten to explain how we should ask for things.

Apparently you are suppose to signal that you want to change lanes FIRST and then look to see about moving over. This was to illustrate that we are to be clear what we want and ask for it first, before looking around to see if we think we might get it. It was such the opposite of what I was doing, craning my neck looking for a likely opening and when I thought I found one signaling to let them know I was moving in, then moving as fast as I could before the space could disappear. Well, I tried signaling first and it worked great even in places where I thought no one would possible let me in. I also found it interesting to watch other cars movement in relation to their signaling. (There's plenty of time to do this when you are on the road for two hours.) It was a great in-my-face reminder about the best order for doing things.

I usually leave space in front of me because I like to and many people move in, in front of me, but, you know what, they usually just keep on moving over because they are wanting to get in another lane or are heading for another exit so it never really slows me down.

Also, as far as people cutting in front of you, you might think about how you letting people in will set the tone for the drive for others to let you in when that is what you want.

I find it a wonderful time to think. Just looking around there are so many things to be grateful for. I just had to drive again for about three weeks after not driving to work for awhile and I was amazed at how relaxed I have gotten about it. I have almost none of the stress I had last fall. I have a completely different focus than I did before.

Mary Joy - I loved your story about being on time. Something for me to remember next time I feel I'm going to be late. We really can change our experiences--even when we are right in the middle of them.

Wishing you all happy and easy commutes!

Sally

quote:

According to the laws of physics, I could and should not have arrived at the time I did. Somehow, time expanded! I know, I know, this sounds weird, but this happened to me, and it was real. I KNOW there is enough time and I will always arrive at the perfect time. I think this miracle could happen because I let go, and relaxed.

I've had this happen along with my son, when we are driving and it appears that we are "moving" in slow motion and time has stopped and then we are where we were travelling always on time. There is more than enough....

I know nothing about traffic jams and competing for space in traffic, I use a bicycle. Sometimes I have to slow down for slower cyclists in front of me. I wait for an opportunity to pass, and then go in front of them. I am a bit "I gotta be first in line" at the stop lights. I will check this behavior for competitive thinking.

Scooters annoy me because they seem to always want to be first and want to use the bicycle lane even though they are motorized. I frequently find myself BLASTing scooter drivers.

Oh I had to add my 2 cents because I live in LA which everyone knows is famous for the traffic...I beg of you to let people in and here's why. As we all know when we're driving in traffic, we all have to share the road, which means we can either be nice and help each other out and let people go....or...you can guard your space, not let anyone in etc....but then what about when YOU need to get in and someone doesn't let you....it's so not cool. Yes, it's competitive to guard your space....karmically, it's good to let people in so that it comes back to you when you need it. Peace!

I drive over an hour everyday to Baltimore, MD. For years I drove aggressively, changing lanes and speeding just so I could get to work or home on time. Many times I would find myself struck in traffic and late for work or worse late arriving home.

However since reading/studying The Science of Getting Rich and applying it to every aspect of my life driving is almost a pleasure. Everyday before I get in the car, I visualize a safe and trouble free drive. I state this affirmation. "I love that the road is clear and that traffic flows smoothly. I give thanks that I swiftly and safely travel to my destination."

I also give other motorist a break and create space between my car and the one in front of me. I rarely get caught in a traffic jam and when I do I relax repeat my affirmation and 90% of the time the traffic just opens up!

For example tonite just as I was leaving work I heard that there was a bad accident and all lanes going out of the city were closed. I didn't panic but repeated my affirmation and gave thanks for a safe ride. Believe it or not the traffic was moving along nicely, the accident was gone and I arrived home feeling relax and grateful for a safe trip.

It's important to realize that Wattles book but not only will make you rich but will works in all areas of your life.

Living in a large city for 18 years, I developed some really obnoxious driving habits, I thought, "because of all those rude drivers out there".

One day I decided to try an experiment: What if I pretended I wasn't in any hurry at all? I drove the speed limit, let people pass me, even made room for people cutting me off in traffic, focused on pleasant thoughts (gratitude is such a great way to "snap me out" of any negativity), and, what do you know? I got to work at the same time I always did, and in a vastly better frame of mind!

Old habits die hard, though. I still have to remind myself, "No hurry... no hurry... I'll get there in time, regardless."


Kate

It's amazing how people's psychology changes when they're on the road. Would they be acting the same way to each other if they were standing next to each other in line? I think not. The dynamic of off-road and on the road politeness is very interesting.