The American Dream

Driving to work each day is a ritual familiar to most everyone. According to the Federal Highway Administration, more than 113 million Americans make their daily drive all alone. That’s plenty of time think.

The morning commute might be the most difficult time for those of us who struggle with the daily grind. There is something about inching to work in the stop and go traffic that heightens our sense of foreboding. We grip the wheel harder as we pull up to the office, knuckles white, stomach in knots, and the anxiety about the day has its hold on us before we even clock in.

So many of us are suffering daily in our work, feeling the persistent and unforgiving discomfort that gnaws at our attitudes and sucks the joy from our lives. We put up with the pain as best we can but it isn’t long before we are peering into our neighbor’s workplace admiring the green grass.

The fantasy about tossing it all and running for the door is very real to many of us.

You wake up in a square house and drive in a square car to work in a square cubicle. You stare at a square screen for hours on end only to drive your square car back to your square home. After your third square meal you plop down in front of a large square television before lying your head down on your square bed.

No wonder you feel boxed in. No wonder you feel trapped. No wonder you feel like it doesn’t make any difference what you do. For some, it’s even a prison.

Welcome to the American dream.