While walking on a street or driving on a road we miss so much what’s happening around us. Most of the times really commonplace incidences can have unique lessons to be learnt. We ignore such incidences as they seem very trivial. But, are they so trivial? Of course not. Most of the things we do and decisions we make have some logic behind them. This logic is not learnt anywhere, these are basic animal instincts. Just because we are humans we can analyze situations better. Especially on the streets and roads where we are in public surrounded by many and yet alone in our journey. The choices we me make on the streets are the best examples of what exactly needs to be done with any situation. Also, even on the same road we come across different situations everyday hence we have to make different choices accordingly.
I am sure everyone of you have stuck in a massive traffic jams at least once. This is becoming a commonplace occurrence in many cities unfortunately. Traffic jams in India is a reality now. Everyone has to go through it because everybody wants to go to office or to his/her business. This article will not give any solutions to avoid traffic jams or ways to prevent those. But I can assure you after reading this article will give a different way to tackle it.
In the days of Diwali (the festival of light) me and my family were coming home from my in-laws place. It was a Sunday evening and last day of 4 days long weekend. Coincidentally the highway that connects my in-laws family and Pune (where I live) is the same that connects many tourist places and also other cities from where many have migrated to Pune for work. So can you imagine the traffic situation now? Usually the travel takes around 5 years. We left at 3 pm and reached Pune just before 1 AM after midnight. Yes! The worst traffic of my life.
During that mess of a night I saw one guy doing something which got stuck in my mind. Today, when I think of it, I think it can be a good solution to our day to day corporate issues. Without wasting too much time, I will explain what he did. We were moving like a snail and this guy was in front of us. Everyone was driving in a row. All of sudden this guy drove his car off the road parked it near the road. Came out of it yawned, stretched, opened back door and just slept. He took a break! Break from the traffic and stress.
A break does not mean going away from workplace and still thinking about the work. A break literally just means taking a break from your work, not thinking about it.
Being a software developer, I know what technological chaos means? What happens when thoughts get clogged like traffic jam and how stress affects ability to take right decisions? In a capitalistic and perfectionist world we live in nothing has more importance than taking right decisions and best choices. But, is it possible to make such choices when we are surrounded by too many thoughts and questions. Sometimes it seems like all problems are emerging from nowhere and we are moving nowhere just like a traffic jam. What is the solution to that? In such situations I think of that guy who took his car aside from the whole traffic jam and took a break.
He did not solve anything neither he found an alternative solution to the problem. Rather he waited till traffic started flowing smoothly again. I am sure mustn’t have reached Pune that later than us. Even though he might have reached Pune at 2 AM early in the morning, an hour late; still he managed to tackle mental and physical stress. Also, by taking a break he took complete rest which is always helpful. This incidence might look very trivial to many of you. But, think of it didn’t that guy make a better choice than all of us who struggled in traffic jams and tortured ourselves mentally and physically? Let’s start making better choices.. When was the last time you took a break in crunch situation? Next time take a break and let me know how it affected your ability to make choices and take decisions.
Whenever you think life is moving faster than yourself or you are stuck somewhere and not finding any solution it’s time to take a break. Your brain also needs some time off just like your smart phone!
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions presented in this article are my personal views and opinions. I take full responsibility of those. This article must not be related to my employer, Autodesk in any way.