You Give Me Road Rage…

Road Rage
Traffic jam – road rage or calm acceptance?

Have you ever had road rage? We can all get stressed when stuck in an unexpected traffic jam. But what if you find yourself getting angry and frustrated every time you get behind the wheel? If you have to drive a lot then this can become a big problem. Not only does it make your journey more difficult, it is causing unnecessary stress in your life.

Time to do some tapping…

Acknowledge how the anger/frustration and stress is getting to you when you drive:

  • Even though I get angry/frustrated every time I get behind the wheel…
  • Even though I seem to be getting stressed every time I drive lately…
  • Even though I seem to have road rage on every journey…
  • Even though I get angry and frustrated and shout and swear at other drivers…
  • Even though my stress levels are really high when driving…
  • Even though I seem to be angry and stressed whenever I drive lately…

Notice where you feel the emotions in your body:

  • Even though I have all this tension and knots in my shoulders when I’m driving…
  • Even though my jaw is clenched tight when I’m driving…
  • Even though my heart is beating fast and I feel so angry and frustrated behind the wheel…
  • Even though I feel hot and sweaty when I’m driving…

You will get better results when you are more specific. So it’s a good idea to tap on specific events from the past when you’ve been particularly angry/frustrated or stressed during a journey.  So tap on the time you had road rage when you were late for an important meeting or you missed your child’s performance in the school play.  Work on all the emotions that come up for you in these events, e.g. guilt, shame, embarrassment etc.

When you’ve worked on the most intense specific events, you should be less triggered in the future. So think about what you can do to help the situation on a practical level. Examples could be leaving earlier, going a different route, re-arranging your day so you don’t have to drive in rush hour traffic, car sharing/taking turns with someone. You may need to tap on those things too:

  • Even though I know I should leave earlier but I always seem to be running late…
  • Even though I know I should go a different route, I seem to be on auto-pilot in the mornings…
  • Even though I always seem to have to do all the driving…

Remember to tap any time that you are triggered. You can tap whilst driving, if safe to do so e.g. just tapping the finger points with your hand on the wheel or when you stop at traffic lights.

I hope that this helps your road rage to disappear!

Keep tapping
Louise