For those of you who’re in positions of authority, please be sure to check your stress level from time-to-time to avoid taking your frustration out on other harmless individuals.  As an Ex-Peace Officer myself, I understand that there is a distinct difference between the “Spirit of the Law” and the “Letter of the Law” and I’ve found that often times high stress levels can tend to push a person to the side of the “Letter of the Law” more often than not.

I was driving home late last night from hanging out with my group-home boys for the day.  It was about 10 pm and I was traveling on a major road with no other civilian vehicles.  I pulled up behind a CHP (California Highway Patrol) vehicle at a stop light.  The light turned green and I switched lanes and then continued on and watched in my review mirror as the CHP officer got in back of me.  I watched carefully to make sure that I didn’t go too slow or too fast.  The posted speed limit was 50mph and my speed was fluctuating between 49mph and 52mph.  After about a mile or two the officer switched over to the #2 lane and pulled up next to me and yelled at me over his bull-horn, “STOP SPEEDING!  YOU’RE DRIVING TOO FAST!  SLOW DOWN AND DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT!”  I must admit that I was surprised to hear this, considering the speed I was driving at and the surrounding conditions.  I actually felt kinda like I was being scolded by my father.  LOL.

As a result, I immediately decreased my speed by 2mph to prevent from endangering the general public.  Then it hit me.  I suddenly realized that even CHP Officers are human and have to deal with stress.  I thought to myself that maybe he was headed home from a hard, stressful day at work out on the freeways and interstates and he felt that my actions in his presence was an act of some sort of disrespect.  Well whatever the case, I wasn’t going to let his bad day ruin my GREAT day.  So, I smiled and waved and drove on singing my song. 

This event prompted me to issue this gentle reminder.  We must check our “Stress-Level” often and keep ourselves in check in this world.  We should also be sure that we never let someone else’s stressful day ruin ours. 

Stress-free for me.  How’s your stress level today?  No need to answer out loud or raise your hand, just hear and understand.  Let’s continue to make it GREAT!