Coping With Tedious Situations

Have you ever been out shopping with someone, doing something that you don’t necessarily want to be doing, but having to cope with it just the same? For me, going to one of those “big” department-like stores like Target or Wal-Mart and spending any appreciable amount of time there fits this description aptly. And I’ve developed some coping strategies when I’m basically in a “waiting for others” mode. One is to explore the store itself, looking over its inventory even in areas that I have no interest in. Another strategy is to look for merchandise that carries part of its label in other languages (usually Spanish and/or French). Or, say, when I’m stuck in the clothing sections, I might check out various labels and see how many different countries the clothing that they sell is from. Of course, if the store has anything like a diner, then I could sit there and study a paper or two that I brought along, or do a puzzle. Or go to their book section, pick out a book that I know will probably always be there, and go through it, a few pages each visit. The bottom line is that I’m looking for ways to make the most of my visit without getting too exasperated.

Or take driving, especially in slow, arduous traffic. I obviously am restricted as to what I can do. But I can carry a foreign-language cassette with me and play it then for practice. Or listen to music, news, or talk shows on the radio. I can rehearse out the upcoming events of my immediate future so that I’ll be more likely to follow through with them successfully. Or come up with some writing ideas for this blog! After all, in just about anything that involves waiting over a span of time, I can simply think about various topics that suit me. Naturally, if I’m driving then I can’t immediately write down any significant thoughts, but since I’m in the habit of carrying a pocket notebook, then at full stops at traffic lights I can quickly jot things down in abbreviated form.

I have long lists of assorted items (songs, TV episodes, movies, mathematics topics, historical battles, books, short stories, rulers, governors, senators, foreign language vocabulary, and constellations) that I will go over in my mind during particularly drawn-out, boring times on the road or at work when I’m performing duties that are of a more or less repetitive, automatic (for me) nature. The object here is to turn as much of time into moments that I feel that I have some degree of control and volition over.

The examples I’ve given just scratch the surface. There are plenty of situations that I find myself in that I’d prefer not to be in. I can either try to avoid them, or if I can’t, come up with some mitigating strategies that allow me to at least survive them without going bonkers!