Traffic Does Not Care

Extracted from "The World Is My Classroom, The Universe Is My Teacher"

“‘Traffic jam’, as far as excuses go, is not credible but believable”

Traffic Does Not Care

I was nervously looking at ‘Waze’ on my phone. It showed a delay of twenty three minutes due to traffic jam. I was going to be late, by a good five minutes.  Add another five to find parking and scramble up to the office. Ten minutes. Can’t explain away ten minutes by differences in watches. I am screwed. 

I was cursing the traffic. It is so unpredictable, even with Waze. When I started, it showed I will be there with 15 minutes to spare. Now with just two kilometres away, with a minor accident up in front, it is showing this.

’10 am’ appointments can be deceiving. It allows you to think that your appointment is after the rush hour traffic. It is, but the traffic does not drop at 9am sharp. It always lingers up to 9.30am and even then does not really subside. All the smarty pants whom wanted to avoid the jam will be jamming the road by this time.

I hate traffic jams. Everyone does. We dread it, swear at it and avoid it more than the Corona Virus. 

Sometimes, traffic jam has its uses as well. It is the ‘WD40’ of excuses for being late. Comes in handy for all occasions. ’Caught in traffic’ can be used at any time except 3am; and under any circumstances except Kuala Lumpur during Chinese New Year. 

‘Traffic jam’, as far as excuses go, is not credible but believable.

Curse it or use it as an excuse, Traffic does not care. Either way. 

Why fret then? Why send our blood pressure high and let the moron in us run loose? All those knitted eyebrows, clenched fists and pursed lips. It serves no purpose, except to harm ourselves and those around us.

You can be angry at traffic. It does not care. You can be happy. It does not care. You can be indifferent. It JUST does not care. 

Traffic does nothing to accommodate our individual moods. Changes it not one single bit.  Why then do we choose anger? Or any of the other negative reactions like frustration, tension or stress? Our reaction is our choice. Think about it. We can choose better. Each time.

My son, who is in many ways is wiser than I, always plays ‘It’s a Wonderful World’ whenever he is caught in a jam. Works for him.

Traffic, it ebbs and flows with time. It doesn’t punish nor reward. And it definitely doesn’t  pander to our individual moods. We are in it and journey through it. It is the collective us. 

It is, the way it is. It is, what it is. What we make of it, is our choice. 

Just like the Universe.

Wattapad
Medium


MURU

It Is in the Question

Extracted from "The World Is My Classroom, The Universe Is My Teacher"

It Is in the Question

We celebrated a friend’s birthday the other day. 

After the cake cutting and the dinner that followed some of us settled around the table for a chat.

The topics jumped from one to another and we finally landed on religion.

Steve, “You guys talk so much about religion. There are so many paths. Each with its own version of truth. Which path to follow? If I want to be better person, what am I do? What to follow?”

“Follow your conscience” answered Sam.

“Yes, that’s it. Just follow your conscience. It will eventually lead you to the truth” joined in John.

Pause. 

Steve  thinks deeply and shoots back, “But that can’t be true for a psychopath. Following his conscience will cause more harm.”

Awkward silence. Hmmm.

And then this answer just came out of John. 

“Well, YOU are asking this question. A psychopath will not ask that question. He will probably will be asking something like “The world is screwed up. Everyone is screwed up. How can I now get rid of some of those screwed up people?””

Ahhh…

That’s it, isn’t it. Different people ask different questions. 

We ask different questions during different phases of our lives. 

“Will dad be angry with my results?”, “Does she like me?”, “What course to take?”, “What to wear?”,  “Why am here?”,  “Do I look fat?”, “Why is my life like this?”, “What’s for dinner?”, “How to make more money?”, “Who am I?”. You get the idea.

We ask questions in search of answers. 

What we don’t realise is that our questions say more about ourselves than the answers. 

Perhaps “ask and it shall be given” has more layers than one would imagine. The very act of ‘asking’ forces one to face up to what exactly one wants.

William Shakespeare must have been on to something when he wrote “To be or not to be, that is the question….”. Hamlet’s questions reveal so much about him and what lies within that the answers to those questions become almost irrelevant. The question reveals the person.

Our mind is always crowded with questions. We are busy seeking answers and think that the solution lies in getting the ‘correct’ answer. We assume that the answer is out there and once it is given to us or obtained, everything will be fine. But that seldom is the case. Each answer given leads to many other questions.

We stand on certain believe system, certain things about ourselves and the surrounding circumstances that we have come to  accept as ‘facts’. And from there, from where we stand, we ask questions, looking for answers.

But the answer is right there staring back at us; in the question.

Our questions reveal who we are, where we are at and what we feel is lacking. And if we look within, in those questions, lie the answers. Our questions hold the answers to our turmoil, our inner conflicts and our aspirations. And once we come to see from whence the question is asked, the questions itself dissolves, revealing the answer.

The next time you have questions running in your mind, observe those questions, look within. You might be surprised at what it reveals about yourself. 

Pay attention to your questions my friend. The answer, IS in the question.

Muru

Wattapad

Medium