The Four Hour Commute!

I usually hear the same response when I tell people that I commute four hours a day.

"Really?" followed by a brief pause of disbelief, "four hours?"

OK, it is really about three hours and fifty minutes if I time it right. Even I am sometimes mystified about the fact that I have lasted five years.  The weather extremes in Chicago are certainly a huge factor.   The only thing worse than under dressing for the weather is over dressing.  A sprint to catch your express train on a muggy Chicago afternoon can make for a pretty uncomfortable ride home for you and your neighboring commuters.

The biggest challenge for me has always been to make good use of my time.  I see the people on the train, contorted and restlessly trying to make up for whatever pathetic night sleep they may have had the night before.  There are the guys who grab a 20 ounce can of cheap beer each night for that long ride home.  The people that drive me crazy are the people playing hours of candy crush aimlessly wasting their most precious resource, TIME.

For me, the train has been my personalized MBA program.  I have been fortunate to read some of the best business thinkers of all time on that train.  I have studied strategy, marketing, sales, finance, innovation, six sigma, leadership, people, body language, entrepreneurship, design and much more.  The library has been my hidden gem.  I have read amazing biographies and autobiographies like Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs.  I have read books on how to play the drums, how to train for a Marathon and how to improve your triathlon times.  Those books have inspired me to bring new ideas to my work and my life.

My 30 minute walk has been my second blessing.   Although the path and the faces are often the same, it always feels fresh in my mind.  Sometimes my music gets mundane, but the seasons always seem to force a new perspective.  Watching the tourist around Millennium Park always reminds me that I work and play in one of the best cities in America.  I arrive at work with energy and focus.  When I leave for the day, that walk is my transition from the blur of the day to my return to my home and family.  The quick walk feels good on my legs, leaping up stairs and moving quickly past the gapers and dallying commuters.

I can say I have managed to make a little lemonade from certainly a bowl of lemons.  The drive for me is still a lemon, but hopefully I can turn some of that road rage into passion.  Perhaps I will one day get a moment of inspiration on that drive.  Only time will tell.

I believe it was Seneca who said that happiness comes from three things:  Being financial self sufficient and debt free, spending time with friends and family and having time for yourself.  For me, the commute has fulfilled that third piece of happiness.  It has helped me be thoughtful, inspired and authentic.  So yes, I do have a four hour commute and I love it.  Would I prefer to have no commute at all?  Absolutely.  For now, I guess I will continue to seek out books that make me smarter and take in the routine chaos of a ride and walk to work.