When teaching me to drive, my parents always instilled in me the importance and responsibility of driving. Driving puts your life and that of others in your hands, and this fact always made nervous and doubt my abilities. I started to become anxious when driving and would avoid driving, especially if it was to new places or at night.
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As time went on, my driving ability increased, my ability to judge time, merge and stop all got better. But as my driving ability was improving so much over the past two years, it confused me why I would still get nervous while driving.
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Then, I set out my freshman year of college to conquer my driving anxiety.
So, I started thinking, I have less anxiety when someone is with me in the car. To resemble that when I don’t have the luxury of having a person in the car with me, I started listening to podcasts. And wow, it worked! It gives me the comfort of someone’s voice while I get to listen to whatever topic I want to. Music with words doesn’t feel the same. I think it’s the sense that music speeds up my brain, but podcasts slow you down.
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Lastly, my faith played a big role in me conquering my anxiousness with driving. Knowing God is in control and will protect me calmed my nerves.
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Do I still get nervous sometimes? Yes, but these are the ways I counter my nerves. So, my tips for you if you experience driving anxiety are as follows:
- Learn your roads. If you know where you’re going it will help you know you can do it.
- Try listening to a podcast- It will slow done your mind, distract from your nerves and feel like someone is in the car with you.
- Believe in your driving ability.
- Drive defensively. Be ready to counter others bad driving.
- Seek a professional if need. Talk to your doctor about the way you feel about driving and see how they can help you.