Snow, freezing rain, flash freezes, sleet, black ice or it all put together on any given day and you have the perfect ingredients for stress, danger and a potential catastrophe; or as most of us refer to it as - Winter.
On top of these Winter stresses, we’re also dealing with trying to balance work, life, deadlines, social, and family obligations. It’s easy to get frustrated and stressed over the extra time and effort it takes to get going each morning, when you have to shovel snow, clear off the car, wait for the defroster to even start working and inevitably, get stuck in endless traffic.
Often, our tendency is to rush and take short-cuts. Short-cuts like, not really clearing off your windshield and the vehicle properly, which can lead to restricted visibility and ice and snow flying from your roof directly into the path of the driver behind you, spoiling his or her day.
Short-cuts like pulling into the passing lane to get ahead, only to realize the person driving in front of you sees what you can’t - black ice and a truck stuck in that lane, spoiling your day.
It's worth taking a pause to find your patience.
Winter can be seen as an exercise in patience, as it will bring increased physical demands, the necessity to revise our schedules, and more time to navigate our way to work and extra-curricular activities. But with the right planning and time to take extra cautions it is survivable; even when your mind tells you your eyeballs are literally freezing.
Take the time to prepare yourself, and your vehicle before the first storm arrives (and every storm after that). Make a checklist to remind yourself and prepare for the dangers the cold brings with the ice cold temperatures. Be sure to have winter tires, winter boots, winter coat, winter gloves, winter hat, winter patience... Yes, I said "winter patience" because preparing yourself with all these things have one thing in common.
They will all assist you in getting safely to spring with just a little less stress in the process.
A little bit of patience and a little bit of planning on your part will put Old Man Winter in his place – in your rear view mirror.
You'll find additional Winter driving tips here from the experts.
