Life Out of the Fast Lane

Hi! My name is Kristy and I like to speed.

There. I said it. I speed. Whew! I feel so much better now that I've confessed.

No seriously - if there is one thing my driving is known for it's for speed. My average MPH is the posted limit +10 (+15 or +20 on the highway). I also don't like to have anyone ahead of me when I'm driving. I don't like others to determine the pace that I go. I like to be at the front of the line - to be "the leader of the pack" so to speak. I've been like this since I started driving. In fact - the only thing I got marked down for on my driver's test was for speeding (I told Phil it was because there was a fire at McDonald's but he still deducted a point).

The bad thing about speeding (besides being dangerous and getting pulled over) is that it usually puts me in a pretty awful mood. Well...ok...the speeding doesn't actually do that - it's the cars who aren't speeding that aggravate me. I have been known to say a few choice words to cars who choose to go the marked speed limit or under. I have also been known to come home in a total grumpy mood after being behind one of those cars. Honestly, I've let that one small thing ruin my entire day. I admit it - I have road rage sometimes.

Have I turned you off from being my friend yet?

Well...today I had a little different experience. On my way to work, I decided I wasn't in that big of a hurry seeing as I left 30 minutes earlier than I normally do. So I took my time getting to work. Don't get me wrong - I still went 10 over the speed limit on the freeway...but that's a big step down from 20 over. But I didn't care when the car ahead of me went slow. I just slowed down my pace to match his. I didn't once get frustrated with some idiotic driver who needed to pull his head out his you-know-where and I also let a few cars squeeze in ahead of me when I knew they needed to get over instead of speeding up so that I was in front.

It was a strange morning.

But then on the way home, I was in the same mood. I actually stayed in the middle lane almost the ENTIRE way home. It was crazy! I didn't get frustrated at the traffic I ran into between SLC and Bountiful. I didn't care that I had to slow down to get into the next lane so that I could exit. And when I saw that cop ahead of me, I didn't have to slam on the breaks so that he wouldn't catch me speeding.

And guess what...I came home happy! I'm super tired and want to go to bed even though it's only 6:30...but I'm happy nonetheless.

I don't know why I was in such a complacent mood today, but I hope it lasts (is complacent the right word choice here? I don't know...). It might be due to the fact that I'm pretty tired today. Or maybe it's because I went to the gym this morning -we all know that "exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't." But whatever the reason may be, I'll take it!

So, I'm going to try a little experiment this week and see if living outside of the fast lane really does make a difference on my day. I'll keep you posted.