44 - You're not guilty of yelling or flipping someone the finger when a car cuts in front of you, are you?

  “I reserve the right to be wrong,” Alan grumbled one day as I reprimanded him for God knows what. I don’t know if he borrowed that line from someone else or if he made it up. However,  I was reminded that we’re all human beings, and heaven forbid we make mistakes. So instead of reacting, I need to forgive immediately and nix the reaction altogether. 

     I guess God decided to test me on my promise. I was driving to the gym when someone squeaked in front of me without using their turn signal. Luckily, I was awake and stepped on my brakes.  Then all of a sudden, my hand shot up. Nope, not to give him the finger, but a peace sign. The guy slowed down and pulled over to the right of me. Oh, shit, I thought. He’s going to flip me the bird, I thought. But instead, the buzzed head and sunglassed face nodded, smiled, and drove off.    Whoa, it works, I thought. Kindness.

      Another time I was the guilty person who zipped around a car that was going too slowly. The person honked at me, and instantly I shot my hand up in the air to give him the peace sign. And believe it or not, he pulled up beside me at the red light, rolled his window down, smiled, and returned the gesture. I gave him a sheepish grin. 

   I chuckled. Wow, what would happen if everyone stopped reacting, took a deep breath, and just

let someone know they’re forgiven. What a different world our streets would become, don’t you

think? The energy would drastically change on this planet. The world would feel peace as the sign is shared thousands of times in a few minutes.

    We need to stop driving as if we’re always late, so we react because our stress button is on. Like my son or daughter used to remind me when they were around three, “Slow down and smell the roses, Mom.”