Now, I’m not saying you should be running red lights when you’re driving.  I’m saying don’t let the stop lights stop you from being happy.

Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m writing this piece of advice to myself more than anyone.  Traffic lights are one of my pet peeves.  I find myself getting very frustrated by traffic lights.  It seems like I’ll just get up to speed after a light turns green and then the next light turns red.

We moved to a new house two weeks ago, and the main route between our new home and the interstate (which we use daily) includes a street about 9 miles long with multiple lights.  I found myself getting frustrated with the lights the other day.

Then while I was sitting at a red light yesterday, it struck me, that having those couple of minutes gave me a nice break from thinking about driving.  It gave me time to think about how much we like our new home.  I thought about how lucky I am to have the wife and kids that I have.  I spent time looking around at the other drivers and even the “scenery” there at the intersection.

As I’ve written before, a lot of our happiness depends on how we view the events in our lives.  I realized that I could sit and be frustrated by the red light or I could turn it into a positive experience.  So I’m working on turning those red lights into positive times.  At most, it’s only a couple of minutes and it’s a nice little break from driving.

So whether it’s the red lights that frustrate you or something else, try to find a way to turn it into a positive experience.  Remember, it’s often just a matter of changing your perspective.

To your happiness!