A Day In My Life - Part 1
No. 20 - 2025/10
Hello, dear friends,
Starting with this issue I’d like to walk you through an ordinary day in my life, and share a few small observations on the flow of my regular days.
Here goes - a regular day in the city last week…
At 9 a.m., I left home for my office in a modern business district of Istanbul. The city already felt ready to explode. Behind every wheel sat a lone general waging a private war—dodging threats, jostling for space, determined to reach the front of the queue.
Some of you may say, "What's the big deal, that’s my morning too". What I want to address here are the side effects of such a commute.
We’ve spoken before about the body’s two gears: fight-or-flight and rest-and-renew.
Rush-hour traffic slams us into the first and wedges us there.
Aggressive drivers push our buttons; our own urgency keeps them pressed. By ten o’clock the city had already overdosed on stress.
Chronic tension drains resilience, erodes immunity, and robs the day of joy before it has even begun.
So what can we do to fix this imbalance?
Let’s list briefly some concrete things we can realistically do.
First of all, we should approach traffic events as an observer, not as a combatant.
Accepting the traffic flow and the selfishness of other drivers as the norm of the moment allows us to go through the process calmly, without tension.
I know it's not easy suddenly to set new ways - but it's good to start somewhere.
Our starting point could be to turn these journeys into moments of mindfulness.
For example, meditation through breathing exercises can be a good start. Or a music-oriented journey can help us escape the distressing impact of the environment.
One of my favorite things used to be to observe houses with balconies along the route I was traveling, or to notice the buildings painted a certain colour.
This kind of meditation can help us to distract ourselves from the chaos of traffic.
If you are a passenger, in a taxi for example, closing your eyes and listening to music on your headphones can lead to real serenity and renewal.
Then, when you get to work, you will be surrounded by stress-laden colleagues and business partners armed with the troubles of the outside world.
This, of course, will have a toxic effect on the process of doing business. People will blame each other, criticize each other negatively and strike a blow against the 'journey of co-production', eroding the team spirit that leads to success.
Your task is to avoid getting caught up in the flow of this otherwise inevitable cycle. You may also task yourself to mediate, safeguard and guide others to focus on real work and solutions.
Bigger Points:
We can all make a real difference to ourselves and those around us by paying attention to a few basic points:
In order to do this, of course, you first need to get to work at peace, rather than distraught by the morning commute. Showing up calm gives you the bandwidth to act as mediator and guide.
“Use the red traffic light as a bell of mindfulness: breathe, smile, and arrive in the present moment.” Thich Nhat Hanh
So, give it a thought, maybe that commute is not just transportation, but the first stop on the day’s positive mental and emotional journey. Arrive peacefully and the rest of the day follows suit.
In the next issue, I will discuss how external factors can seep into our private lives.
Until then, travel safely—and please share your thoughts, positive or critical. I’d love to hear them.
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With love,
Ersin Pamuksüzer
"Your quality of life and your health are the result of your choices. Choose what is right and be at peace with your choices."
Beautiful and so important for us all🙏💜