Don’t forget you have options.

A rideshare ad at baggage claim, and the moments when I stop believing it.

“Don’t forget you have options.”

I saw this line while standing at baggage claim.

Lyft put it there because it knows what tends to happen next.

Passengers pick up their bags, open their phones, and tap Uber almost without thinking.

Lyft is not trying to say it is better or cheaper.

It simply asks a question at the exact moment before the habit can finish its loop:

Are you sure this is your only option?

But what really made me stop was not the advertising strategy.

It reminded me of much heavier moments.

There are times when I am stressed and my mind seems to freeze.

My body tightens.

The frame in front of me keeps narrowing until I can see only one path:

Keep going.

Push harder.

Finish it.

The more I believe I have no other option, the more pressure I feel.

The more pressure I feel, the less clearly I can see the situation.

And many times, continuing to push is exactly what makes things worse.

Only when I calm down does the frame slowly open again.

I can slow down.

Ask for more time.

Change my approach.

Or choose not to continue.

Not every option is easy.

But they are still there.

Opening Uber without thinking is just autopilot.

Nothing is threatening me. My hand is just following a groove it wore itself.

But in those other situations, what narrows my view is pressure and fear.

Two different mechanisms.

But both can make one path look like the only path.

Maybe that is why one plain line on a rideshare ad kept me standing there so long.

Since yesterday, that line has stayed in my head.

I do not know yet whether I will remember it the next time I am in a stressful situation.

But the question is still there:

Is there another option still here, one I just haven’t seen yet?