DR. WALLACE: I'm a second-year college student, and I have to do a fair amount of driving between my apartment and the college campus I attend. Unfortunately, the congestion in our city has gotten worse over the last year, and I find that drivers are increasingly frustrating me with their aggressive lane changes, tailgating and even drifting out of their lane into mine. I feel like every time I have to drive, I can't let my mind wander for even a moment because I have to be on guard at all times.

And don't even get me started about how I view the drivers in our town when I'm riding my bicycle! Drivers here treat bicycle riders even worse than their fellow automobile drivers. For this reason, I rarely ride my bike on the congested public roads anymore. Is there any way I can get more tranquility during my future commutes? — It's a Jungle on the Roads Here, via email

IT'S A JUNGLE ON THE ROADS HERE: The first job of driving is to always take a defensive posture and to maintain awareness of your surroundings at all times. Fortunately, you are doing this, and it's evident from your letter that your attention span is crisp and sharp as you see everything going on around you. Sadly, this is simply a fact of life when driving a vehicle in congested areas in this country. The word "tranquility" doesn't come to mind often for almost any driver in our nation's largest metro areas, and crowded college towns certainly fit that description as well.

I'm sure you're aware of any public transportation alternatives that may exist, so those may be a possibility if your schedule allows you enough time to use them. Alternatively, if you might have a carpool partner available, you would only have to drive half the amount of time if you alternated with another student. This could ease your stress by having you drive less frequently and perhaps also save each of you some fuel costs.

MY PERSPECTIVE WAS COMPLETELY CHANGED BY HER STORY

DR. WALLACE: I don't really have a question to ask you, but I wanted to tell you about an experience I had the other day. I'm 19 and a college student, probably quite typical to the hundreds of thousands of college students all around the country. I'm busy, don't have enough hours in the day and always feel like I'm pushing a giant rock up a hill to get everything done in my life that I need to do.

In addition, I've had a few difficult medical issues and some family problems to deal with as well. But overall, I'm truly lucky that things are not worse than they presently are for me. I say this now after having met a fellow student who told me a story that was so heartbreaking and difficult to hear that it made my situation pale in comparison.

This student confided in me, and we have become at least casual friends at this point. I was thinking about her the other day and mentally comparing what she is currently going through versus what I'm dealing with, and I literally felt embarrassed about "how hard" I had it trying to grind ahead in my own life day by day. My hope is that some people who read my letter here may realize, like I did, that everything is relative, and we don't often realize just how good we have it in life. — My Life Perspective Took a U-Turn, via email

MY LIFE PERSPECTIVE TOOK A U-TURN: Thank you for sharing your poignant story and insightful take on how we go about our daily lives. It's quite normal, absent a similar comparison to the one you experienced, for individuals to be quite myopic about their daily actions, desires and goals.

Anyone can truly take the time to think about all the blessings and benefits we may take for granted on a daily basis. Of course, we intuitively know this on some level, but for most it gets pushed to the far back recesses of the mind. Then the persistence of problems, no matter how small or trivial, seem to take on magnified importance.

Truly understanding what is important in life and how to be appreciative of the journey we are all traveling is a realization that yields benefits on many levels, including mental health. Thank you for sharing and causing all of us to pay attention to the perspective you've brought to our attention.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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