"BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS"

"Walking between the raindrops": An expression for effortlessly  dodging the splashes and soakings of everyday life.  If ever there was once a fabled guy or gal able to seemingly walk through life's storms non-chalantley and not get wet, that Gatsby styled character is a long-gone fantasy in today's world. 

Take an average day in today's world.  How many things do we do, which involve the unglamorus task of... waiting?  Think about it.  From home life; to driving; to shopping; to daily tasks:  if we each tracked the number of things in an average week, of which we simply wait to get through a task, we would be dismayed at the lost time: Time which could be spent toward real fullfillment; time that should be spent investing in our individual purposes.

Why are we "waiting" so much? Most studies point to population increase.

By 2033: the world population is predicted to be 8 billion.  2038: 9 billion.  2055: 10 billion.  2088: 11 billion.   Plain and simply: people will naturally keep having babies.  We are beginning to see the effects of over-population, particularly in urban centers.

There is no better time than now, to think and plan for this future, to maximize the quality of life for you, your children, and grand-children.

Many folks are unaware of the global population reality and its affect on their current and future generations quality of life.  In a over crowded urban areas, can swiftly erode one's sense of purpose.  In fact any anthropoligist, historian, or social scientists report that it is unnatural for humans to function within layers of people crammed together.

Being emobilized by too many people -- particularly when we willingly substitute those crowds as real "community" -- takes it's toll on our ambition.  It erodes our common decency with one another. And dealing with over-crowding deteriorates our physical health. There is no heroismin successfully herding through masses of people; Any mislabeled virtue in heroically tolerating ridiculously long lines is a  learned and accepted propoganda within "consumer compliance."  And that kind of wait will NOT be honored at anyone's memorial. 

If you believe real virtues still exisit -- beyond wading through the mob --, and you crave more quality time: you are on the right page.  Yours and your children's mental and physical stress can be significantly reduced in this century.  But such solutions take thoughtful planning as early in life as possible: a road less traveled.

Here are some tips to avoid the unnatural expecation of trying to thrive in a packed area.  These ideas will maximize the very natural quality time we crave to persue purpose.  These life hacks will help generate time: for those tired of living as brainwashed consumers, and would rather lead in developing solutions to our significant challenges coming. As of the date above on this Abbamedia.org website, the below stradegies are available to you. We will update regularly as expanding technologies/stradegies develop,

START WITH THE BASICS

1) High speed internet 2) Laptop  3) Smartphone

These are the tools "raindrop walkers" use to bypass the frey.  You may already have these three tools. But you might not have learned to fully harness their potential.  Below, the stradegies will help inspire you to use these basics and gain time away from wasteful waiting.  Can't afford it? You can't not afford it.  Even financed,  all three are available at affordable monthly rates.  A phone call to your local hi-speed internet provider along with a visit to your local computer store, and your family will have the technology to shuttle you and yours ahead of the crowd.

"FAVORITE" YOUR TIME SAVING SITES

No matter what broswer your computer favors or you favor, you should "FAVORITE" sites which save time.  By using easily accessible favorited sites, the convential stand-in-line lifestyle is bypassed with useful information to avoid the lines, or better -- processing the business we need immediately without ever leaving home.  Adding a FAVORITE site is easy.  Find the "add-to" or "favorite" button and the website you are currently on will be added to a favorites' list in your browser's favorites folder.  Some browsers let you drag the URL directly into the favorites folder. In that folder you can organize a preferred order they appear and/or delete as necessary.

PLAN EARLY;  PLAN YOUNG: LIVE WHERE YOU WORK/WORK WHERE YOU LIVE (...or you WILL get stuck).

High school/college graduates rarely consider creating their work -- away from traffic.  However, in the upcoming years, it will be absolutely essential for budding leaders to avoid the pitfalls of working or living around over urbanization.  Savy young people will design their lifestyle away from sitting in traffic.  They will create an ideal home/work strategy while in school.  They will then flex /modify plans for real-life, to live in areas that allows minimal commute time between home and work and back.  For some, choosing a virtual work environment may eliminate work traffic for them altogether.  Longer than ten minutes of commute time in a high speed automobile is cheating time from your goals.

DINE, REST, STUDY, CONNECT, OR ANYTHING -- BUT DRIVE DURING RUSH HOURS

Maximizing a higher quality life means creating a solid and comfortable structure for one's life as young as possible.  Well thought career aims will have a big impact toward how much time you waste commuting during high peak traffic times.  Is your career dependent on large urban areas?  Or, can your passions be acheivied in less populated areas? As well, the route(s) and travel times you choose can dramatically open up more time.  No matter your choice in work loaction, you can protect your peace and time through real-time traffic updates and fastest routes options:  "FAVORITE" and habitually visit before driving Google Maps or such real time websites  as:  https://wego.here.com/traffic

TELECOMMUTING

Businesses and employees have found they can save time and money on bypassing the comute, and opting for telecommuting. By sharing dynamic data via 1) teleconferencing (audio and/or video), 2) Collaboarative online documents, 3) online presenation software, and 4) metastorage services for file transfers, workers' offices can be anywhere their laptop can go -- even your home office.

USE COMMUTE TIME TO GET AHEAD -- WORKING BY TRAIN, METRO TRANPSORT, OR CAR POOL

If you are not in a position to move to a less crowded area, nor work closer to or at home, be productive while someone else drives.  Millions in transition have kept a leg up on the competition simply by doing away with the status of driving their own car.  Their secret:  they create a portable office to tie up loose ends such as 1) Phone calls 2) Emails 3) Calendaring 4) Presentation preparation 5) Research 6) On-line transactions 7) Study 8) Long range planning, and much more.  Think how just these few activities saved for the commute can open up more live meaningful interaction with co-workers (at work) and family (at home).  This kind of time management is how people systematically get ahead, and carve out purposeful interaction with those that matter to them.  It all goes back to careful planning and execution of one's lifestyle.

SAIL THE FAST LANES IN A HYBRID / ELECTRIC VEHICLE

When owning or leasing a hybrid/electric car, one has the option of speeding through traffic in the car pool (HOV) lane.  Most states reward the clean-green commuter, allowing them to sail past the herd.  Another time-saver with these vehicles: you don't need to make an extra stop for gas.  Just plug it in in your garage!  In other words, you can get to work, home, or anywhere faster, with one less stop of waiting in a gas sation line.  There are still state rebates available for purchasing a green car.  Check with your local state's guidlelines on getting handsome kickbacks when leasing or purchasing a hybrid/electric.  If you want to keep your gas powered vehicle, consider a transponder which a fee grants vehicles access to your available toll lanes.  It may be worth the monthly cost.

REDUCE WAITING FOR FOOD

The title of this paragraph sounds ridiculous.  And it is!  Now, industrialized nations are feeling the effects of population growth with growing lines for buying food -- longer and longer waits. Whether at the grocery store or eating out, here are some work-arounds to get the food faster.

Tip 1: Why wait a long time to be seated when everyone else is at the restaurant -- during peak meal times.  Choose restaurants that allow you to call in an order and take it out.  Just drive up, pick up, and leave.  You get to control your own ambience at home with loved ones and friends.

Tip 2:  Shop using grocery delivery on-line.  You choose the time they deliver.  The extra fee for delivery is made up in the hour of your productivity gained. 

Tip 3:  Grow a garden.  It's healthier;  It creates bonding with family; and no crowds at the check-out. 

Tip 4:  Keep favorited delivery restaurants updated on your broswer for easy/fast ordering.

Tip 5: Eat or shop during off peak hours.  Many places are open later and are naturally less crowded when those following standard time patterns have gone elsewhere.  This same tip applies to doing business with several of the below establishments.

FOR GENERAL SHOPPING (Hardware, medication, gifts, household supplies, media, etc.):

Tip 1: Support small businesses: There are fewer shoppers there.  Also, there is a another winning stress reliever: You will receive higher quality service from mom and pop stores -- beacuse their pride of ownership directly reflects in their small family of employees!  These folks are the underdogs in a global market.  They will and do work harder than the bigger chain employees.  This in turn means you are supporting higher quality jobs with less manufacturing coming from overseas.  And, many small businesses are now offering direct shipping to your home, just like the big chains.

Tip 2:  On-line merchandise:  Like the ease of shopping for food on-line, creating a favorites list of general shopping items not only makes shopping simplers, it makes it  acheivable away from the lines at the store.  Tracking supplies in advance of shipping time will help conserve usage and precious time away from the store.  However some like Amazon have fast shipping to one's door step often over night.  Also create on-line profile's for preferred shipping services. 

Fedex, UPS, and USPS all offer personalization for shippees deliveries, (Text/email updates on specifc shippments; What time of day to deliver; where to place package; signature waiver; etc.).  Sign up on their sites to maximize and track deliveries securely to your door or box.

FOR GENERAL DAILY SERVICES:

Postal Services:  Why wait at a notoriously slow post office. Use a privately owned "annex" giving local friendly customer service.  The lines are shorter; there are more options for shipping; there are more services such as copying, printing, packing, fax, notary and more.  Most importantalyour personalized ongoing relationship with annex can make transactions much more pleasant, while you are helping small businesses. 

DMV:  Save your blood pressure from the throws of the sluggish DMV.   Use their on-line services to complete many transactions.

For some services that require your presence, check with joining an Auto Club, offering DMV in person services.  If you must visit the DMV for a transaction: make an on-line appointment to speed pass "the walk-in's."

Banking tip 1: Did you know on-line apps are updating constantly with more sophistication -- now close to handling most banking transactions.  It will not be long before the bank building as we know it will be obsolete.  If you are not banking on-line or via your mobile device, get ahead of the curve, and bypass another wait.  Deposit, Transfer, Send money, Pay bills, and more are usually available at your own device.

Banking tip 2:  We don't need big impersonal banks anymore.  A credit union offers more localized financial support, than a large nationwide bank.  Your money is just as safe in a credit union, as credit unions are federally backed up to $250,000.  The same on-line banking and app features are available through most credit unions. The lines are shorter.  Representatives will likely recognize you by name, even if you have to go into a branch. You are not just a number!

Medical:  Always solicit advice from your medical doctor before considering the following tips. The medical profession is always re-tooling care for paitents' health gains.  If you are relatively healthy and have group insurance: research quality medical groups that offer doctor call-back appointments;  call-in refills; call-in nurses; and on-line appointments (when you must go in).  You may be able to keep rested with less stress on your body by getting your doctor's advice with a tele-appointment.  Likewise, the chances of contracting other infections/viruses from a busy medical facility are lowered, as you are now in control of the means, appointment time, and specific facility.

MEDIA WITHOUT WAIT

Use Commercial Free Media:  Commercials (no matter how much we are amused by them) slow our ability to comprehend the important ideas.  Placed ads chop up the original writer's idea, forcing a delay in reaclimating to the original story content.  Likewise commercial's tend to train us by their annoyance to demote all dynamic media down to "passive engagement" status.  In other words, to save mental processing time, we simply shove most of our commercial laden music, movies, and TV shows into the background of our minds, like background noise. 

Quality media is like quality food.  They should both not be dismissed as a random swirl of empty content.  Media like food goes into our beings, and needs to be fully received for exercising conviction, evaluation, and critique.  Streaming TV and music services can cost a small monthly fee (well worth it) to be commercial free.  The time spent engaging will be more enriching without interruptions.  You may even find that without insulting pandering, your guard will come down allow deeper inspiration from your chosen media to envelop your whole mind and soul. 

Hand pick your time to read, listen to music, watch a movie or TV, and visit with a friend(s)...and aggressively: keep interferrences at bay.

VACATION OFF-SEASON AND OFF BEATEN PATH

National Lampoon's "Vacation" movie is funny for a reason.  The Griswold's fearless father -- while good in intentions -- didn't think broadly in his planning.  Chuck Griswold naively led his family into traffic, weather, strange roads, unsavory social interactions, and much more.  Start a tradition early on that values peace and crowd avoidance.  By selectng a destination off the beaten-path, your destination can send a message to family members that they are valued, and not part of the rat race of citizens clawing their way through some Wally World. 

If establishing a successful pattern of anticipation for a meaningful family get-away, not only will everyone feel more inspired by the organic/unmanipulated interaction with their environment, the family bonds will be strengthened.  To start stirring ideas, simply type in any search engine: "off the beaten path," or "least crowded vacation" or "secluded vacation."  You can also follow the string of words by what you or your family  likes: city; beach; mountains; camping; glamping; sports; etc.

Carry on only: For flying, pack carry-on sizes only. This way there is no waiting in baggage claim.

Known Traveler Number:  For flying, get Known Traveler Numbers (KTN) to select TSA Pre-check on airline ticket purchase.  TSA Pre-check skips the longer security line at the airport with a significantly shorter one.  Known Traveler Numbers are generated through TSA's recommended local offices on their website.

Car Rental:  Joining preferred membership with rental car companies allows you to skip their line at the airport and usually walk directly to their counter to pick up your keys.  They like when you join their preferred customer profile on-line, becuase there: you enter everything about the car you want and then pre-pay. This process speeds their administrators behind the counter, by taking out all of the in-person question and answer time.  Some preferred customers even skip the rental car counter all-together, and head straight for the lot where an attendant hands them the keys to the vehicle -- and away they go.

Check-in on line/phone app:  Again, why wait in another line at the airport, when you can get your boarding pass 24 hours ahead of boarding.  With a virtual boarding pass on your phone -- including your TSA Pre mark, you breeze through the airport all the way to your gate, with virtually no wait.

Our changing world has many challenges.  However the challenges are still managable. The above tips require a discipline to carve out more time for you -- to invest in your specific purpose.  Time management is one of the greatest gifts to impart to the next generation.  Those receiving this discipline of setting themselves apart from the chaos will lead, and be happier.  

However, those blindly accepting the cultural machine of waiting, pushing, crowding will be wasting a tremendous amount of quality time on a meaningless activity.  Such folks will not be happy, rather dependent and disillusioned.  Worse, the parents of these kids will unknowingly devalue their children's lives with the message of omission that "time discipline doesn't matter because my kids are not worth or capable of such discipline." Those children will unfortunately repeat their parents' silent message to their children:  Follow the masses... and  wait for a short-lived validation via emotion and endorphines.  Often this validation is nothing more than the relief of making it to the front of the line. A false purpose. 

Committing to arm your children against the challenges of a bloated population will encourage them to actively find their place in it all, by first getting away from it all.

"Walking between the raindrops" may be just a metaphorical  exaggeration.  But with today's consumer technology, you can "walk between the lines."  Tap into these solutions and future solution.  Affirm your, your family's, and your friends' reason for being, -- by simply swapping the waiting game for fresh time to develop passions.  •

Recipient of 8 "Excellence in Media" Angel Awards