Roundabouts

Roundabouts are still fairly uncommon in Canada; at least that's what I've noticed in the cities that I've visited across this country. In the Lower Mainland, they're being constructed more and more frequently. I love them! They remind me of my travels to places where roundabouts are de rigeur.

Not only are they efficient, but they're also fun to drive; provided that everyone understands the rules of the roundabout. It seems that a lot of people omit Step 4. Turn signals are not optional. Other drivers, by and large, are not clairvoyant!

Another type of "roundabout"

Not an official term, but it gets the point across. This type of roundabout produces stress and is a result of stress. It is both a sign and a symptom.

Looping thoughts - the ones where you recycle the same conversation, replay the vicious argument or circle around the What-do-I-do's?, all without arriving at viable solution.

'Round and 'round you go, until finally you stop, something interrupts you, or you crash. However, unlike a traffic roundabout, this kind of thinking and feeling is not a lot of fun, nor is it efficient. You end up burning a lot of fuel. In other words, a lot of energy.

How do you exit this "roundabout"?

1. You need to know that you are approaching a roundabout or are in one. Catch yourself in looping thoughts.

2.  What are the rules specific to roundabouts? How do you execute those rules? Learn how negative thinking and feeling affects you. There's a lot of information in my posts and on my website about this. But knowledge alone isn't enough. You need to know what to do to change or improve it.

3.  Think about drivers who gain experience by practicing driving roundabouts. In other words, practice the new behaviours so that you are now able to automatically do them, regardless of the conditions.

What can you do right now?

  • Check your breathing. Are you using your diaphragm to breathe?
  • Do the things you love. They are restorative.
  • Amp up the appreciation factor.
  • Contact me to discover which program is right for you. I'd love to be your "driving instructor", providing you with all you need to know so you can travel safely where and when you want!

4 Replies to “Roundabouts”

  1. Thanks for another wonderful post!

    I love the analogy you have made between a person getting stuck in looping thoughts and someone driving in a roundabout.

    Your stress-reducing methods sound like excellent ways to help a person gain clarity as to what is truly keeping them locked in that stuck position.

    Sometimes they may discover they may hold two conflicting feelings about a decision they have to make and this may be as a result of a “should” (what they believe they ought to do) vs what they would like to do in their hearts (something they buried deeply inside).

    Resolving this entails evaluating the should (is this really the way the person feels or is he/she following this blindly) as well as acknowledging the existence of the heart’s desire…a difficult but potentially liberating and freeing process.

    It’s funny but until your post, I thought roundabouts only existed in England; clearly I was wrong…

  2. Ramana,
    Are the rules that there are no rules? 🙂

    Dorlee,
    Exactly.

    That’s one of the first lessons – getting clarification of one’s values. Those hidden-away, deep in one’s heart things.

    We never had roundabouts where I grew up. They still don’t.

    Here new and old neighbourhoods are getting them. I think the engineers are seeing the value they provide.

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