I had to smile when I stumbled upon this post at Zen Habits called "5 Powerful Reasons to Drive Slower, and How to Do it."

I used to have quite the lead foot. Everywhere I went, I went in a hurry. And, if you were in front of me and I thought you were driving too slow, I was MAD and I'd usually let you know it by doing all the things that jerky drivers do (tailgating, motioning, yelling, blowing by you at the first chance).

Yes, I did. And, I am ashamed of my former behavior.

Then, I witnessed a serious road rage incident that changed my driving ways forever. The husband and I were driving down to my parents house and there were two trucks in front of us that were obviously engaged in some sort of back-and-forth road-rage thing. I think one cut the other off at some point. At the stop light, the guy in the truck in front got out, came to the truck behind him and was screaming at the other guy and proceeded to punch his windshield so hard that it broke.

I was terrified, even though it wasn't me...because it could've easily been me.

That was about 3 or 4 years ago and I can honestly say that I have never gone back to my wild-driving ways.

I am now the person you think is driving too slow. But, I'm perfectly happy to pull over and let you go by if you have somewhere you need to be fast. If you cut me off, I'll let you (I'll probably even wave). If you are waiting to pull out into traffic, I'll be the one to let you through.

My drives are much more pleasant and calm and, sure, I'm usually late wherever it is that I'm going. But, I arrive there happy and serene...instead of angry and irritated.

And...with gas prices today...my slower driving habits pay off at the pump.