You have 5 minutes

Its the morning rush hour, and your blood has reached the boiling point. You only have five minutes to get to work when you come across a significant traffic jam on the freeway. You suddenly realize that you are stuck in a construction zone when you see the orange pylons. Being late to work seems like a huge stressor. Or maybe it's 5:30 p.m. and you have to rush to pick up your four-year-old from day care. A car suddenly veers in front of you and you have to slam on the brakes. You barely avoid an accident. Your stress level is rising once more, and it's hard for you to deal with it. In todays world, driving is a major cause of stress. Many of us spend countless hours stuck in traffic jams. There seem to be more cars on the road than ever before. In many American cities, traffic problems are a major public safety issue. In addition, it might appear at times that motorists are being less considerate than they have ever been. Another source of stress is the care and maintenance of your vehicle. Insurance premiums, inspection costs, rising gas prices, and basic maintenance costs are all things you must worry about. The financial stress involved in keeping a car on the road can seem tremendous. Also, you might be saddled with a car that has constant break-downs. If you feel as if your car is not secure, it can be quite a stressful experience. Driving kids around can be very stressful for parents. You might have to referee fights between children as you drive. Alternately, you might have to come up with creative ways to keep kids occupied on long car rides. It can also be very stressful to feed the kids while they are in the car. In desperation, you might pull into a drive-thru, where the wait seems intolerable. Stress while driving is common in modern life. Discourteous drivers, potholes, and irritated passengers will always exist. On your way to work, the store, or school, you will undoubtedly encounter traffic jams. You'll always have moments when you grip the wheel and wonder if you'll make it. There are ways to reduce road stress, but you can't eliminate it. You might want to think about investing in some restful CDs, for instance. Classical music can be quite soothing on a difficult driving day. You could also try listening to a CD of nature sounds as you try to maneuver through traffic. If you dont have a CD player, cassette tapes are another possibility. Also, if you cannot afford to purchase tapes or CDs at a record store, consider purchasing them at a yard sale or church bazaar. You can even borrow tapes and CDs from your local library. Youll find that youre better able to handle the stress of driving with some pleasant sounds emanating from your car stereo. You might also think about changing your route. If you always find yourself stuck in traffic on the freeway, you might want to use residential streets instead. While you might find that your commute time is longer, you might also discover that your stress is reduced considerably when your route is changed. Another technique that many drivers use is to start out five to ten minutes earlier than they need to. That way, you dont have to operate under such a time crunch. Those five or ten minutes can make quite a difference to your daily commute. In addition, you might enjoy having those extra minutes to yourself once you arrive at school or at work. For the majority of us, driving is a necessary daily chore. The trick is to make it as enjoyable as possible in order to lessen our stress levels. Investing in a comfortable seat cushion or a relaxing back rest can do wonders for our frame of mind. Singing or whistling in the car can also be a good way to reduce stress. Playing games with your childrensuch as trying to spot out-of-state license platescan be yet another effective stress-reducing technique. Chances are you will not be able to reduce your stress level overnight. Many of us have become quite used to stress on the road. However, by trying to make our trips as pleasant as possible, we can go a long way to lessening driving-induced stress.