This weekend the brilliant MTA suspended all L train service, thereby leaving Williamsburg commuters stranded / inconvenienced. Even better, this was not announced until Thursday, the same day we were told our monthly passes would be raised over 10% in December.
What a week for those of us trying not to clog the street with cars and fumes! However, as with all adversity, this is a wonderful opportunity to again practice living should-less. The reality is there are no L trains. This is true whether I "should" it not. There are ways to get into Manhattan for work, it will simply take [at least] an hour instead of my usual 15 minute commute.
If I sit around and talk about how horrible things are, then I pay the price for that, not the MTA. I will get angry, my blood pressure will go up, I will have trouble sleeping, and feel worse. If I tell myself that it's no big deal, I'm just a little inconvenienced, I have new music on my ipod to listen to, and this is just an opportunity to see more Little Miracles, then I feel better.
Even inconvenienced I realize I still have choices. How about you?
Damon L. Jacobs is a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist seeing individuals, couples, and families in New York City. He is also the author of "Absolutely Should-less: The Secret to Living the Stress-Free Life You Deserve."
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1 comment:
you bring up a really good point - when the subway is slow, suspended, re-routed, etc it becomes easy to get caught up in the "inconvenience" of it all but it feels better to spend the time doing something nice with yourself - listening to new music, doing a little extra reading, people watching, a cat nap, what have you!
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