Your foot begins to cramp from keeping it firmly held onto the brakes. It’s been 20 minutes and you’ve maybe moved forward a yard. You suddenly regret your music choice, and every song that plays through your speakers only seems to make you more and more agitated. You start fidgeting because you are aware at this point you won’t make it to first period on time. You take some deep breaths to try to calm yourself down, but instead you just get completely pissed at everyone around you.

Finally, you move forward for just a second, when suddenly, the person in front of you slams on his brakes forcing you to stop short. You flip him off because you feel personally insulted for his short stop when in reality he probably had to stop short because the person in front of him did the same exact thing.

Forty minutes later you get to school. You’re tired and in a bad mood for the rest of the day. This is the life of someone who lives in Los Angeles.

LA traffic has shaped the way we live our lives every single day. Although we all dread it and do everything in our power to avoid it, in the end, it makes us more patient and time-conscious.

We all know that it’s better to leave fifteen minutes early than to arrive half an hour late. In the morning, if you leave five minutes later than usual, you can get to your location anywhere from 5-40 minutes later than expected. LA traffic teaches us all how to manage and budget our time because here, every minute counts.

The traffic also teaches us patience. Although it may seem like traffic puts everyone on edge, the next time you stand in line for something, things seem to move ever so slightly faster. Once you’ve sat in five miles of traffic for an hour, waiting in line for Starbucks isn’t so tedious anymore.

Even though there may be benefits to traffic, it is still something that no one should have to experience, so try these tips to make traffic a little more bearable:

1. Have empathy. Like Simona Vishnevsky says in her latest article, remember that you are not the only person sitting in this traffic. You think you are in a rush to get to class? Well, the woman two cars down has a very important meeting today that if she misses, her job could be on the line. And that man in the car in front of you you flipped off, if he may seem a little distracted, that’s because his wife is currently in labor at West Hills Hospital. He is on speaker-phone with her reminding her to breath. Show empathy because everyone is experiencing the exact same traffic you are.

2. Stay positive and optimistic. This may be very hard for some because when waiting in traffic, it seems like the world may just as well come to an end. Instead of focusing on the negative, think positively. “This moment is perfect for reflection and giving myself a moment to breath before the school days begins.” “Wow, the sunrise is really beautiful today.” Or even, “I really like my outfit today.” Give yourself something to be positive about, or traffic will be completely unbearable.

3. Relax. The worst thing you can do when sitting in traffic is let yourself fall apart in rage. When do you ever get an hour to just be by yourself with no pressure to do homework, college applications, or other unfortunate responsibilities? I promise you will get through the traffic, so why not use this time for yourself. Play your favorite tunes and just relax. Let traffic be the calm before the storm instead of it being the storm itself.

Driving means freedom: a right of passage that forces you to have responsibility and control. Although traffic may seem like the end of the world, remind yourself that it really isn’t THAT bad.

Your foot begins to cramp from keeping it firmly held onto the brakes, and it’s been 20 minutes since you’ve moved an inch, but this time, you have a smile on your face as you remind yourself that traffic is temporary. Everything is going to be just fine.