August 2, 2021

On a summer Saturday afternoon, I entered the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. It is a bottleneck almost anytime but especially on July weekend afternoons as beach visitors leave their weekly rentals, all at once. If you live in Virginia, I know you know.

As traffic was crawling, I watched two drivers in separate cars, both with Virginia plates, respond very differently. One driver was dancing in her seat – music was clearly filling her ears. The other was banging his hand against his steering wheel, making exasperated gestures, and I could nearly make out his curse words.

I realize I don’t know about their individual circumstances. Yet in that moment, they both faced the same external circumstance. One faced it with joy; one with cortisol. A reminder for me to choose wisely.

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