What Do You Do at Yellow Stoplights?

I was sitting at a stoplight waiting in the left turn lane. You know the drill. You’ve got a green light but no green arrow, so you sit in the intersection and wait till it’s clear–and then gun it before/as the light turns red. Well, that’s what I usually do.  But I wasn’t in a hurry that day so I stayed behind the white lane and decided not to stress myself out, wondering if oncoming traffic would stop before the light turned red.  I was rewarded with a green arrow less than 30 seconds later (at an intersection that doesn’t always give ya the arrow).

It’s just a little illustration of not causing self-imposed stress by forcing one’s self to run so fast that it becomes almost dangerous to one’s personal wellness and off-putting to those we love or work next to. Why the never-ending rush? I’m preaching to myself, by the way, and maybe you can pick up a tidbit.  Sometimes, if we’d just “let it go” (“it”= hurrying), and “slow down and savor” the moments in our days, we can manage the inevitable stress in our days a bit better—and we, too, will be rewarded with a peaceful open door. The open door might look like smelling the roses (being fully present and aware of God’s goodness), another opportunity presenting itself, not jumping on the current “drama train” and thus not getting all worked up, or simply time to think so that God can show us one of His great ideas to implement.

So, don’t gun it at the yellow lights of life. Sit there and take the necessary mental and spiritual breaks that’ll lower your blood pressure and savor your day a bit more.