I just got back from driving my son back to his dad's house in Gatineau. It's really cold outside and I wasn't in much of a hurry. As always, it was a pleasure to be driving with people who wanted to make it tomorrow before everyone else.
As I was driving and being passed on every side by hurried people, I began to think about the disasters of impatience.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not judging here. God knows I've been impatient on many more than one occasion myself. There are days when NOTHING can get done fast enough. Not surprisingly, on those days, when I manage to accomplish things at break-neck speed, I realize that most of what I've done is sloppy and unfinished and, not only that, but I didn't enjoy any of the time I spent doing it.
Just like driving in front of a hurried driver... you know what I'm talking about. You're driving and you look in the rearview mirror only to see the guy behind you who is so close you can't even see his headlights. It's intimidating. I don't know about you but when that happens to me, I'll sometimes drive faster so I don't fear them rear-ending me. It's not very enjoyable at the best of times but the last time I did that, I almost got in a car accident because I was so concentrated on getting further ahead of an impatient driver that it was the only thing I was concentrating on. I wasn't concentrating on my driving, my surroundings or other drivers. I just wanted to get out of this guy's way as he was obviously not interested in passing me but more interested in intimidating me.
Needless to say, it was stupid on my part. What I should have done is slowed down and moved my car over to the right so that even his brain, which was obviously moving faster than the speed of light, would click on and he would pass me. In my hurry to get in front of this guy, I almost had an accident, which could very well have hurt (or worse) me and other people.
I know that sometimes, we want people to do things, get things learn things FASTER. It just seems that if that would happen, their lives (and ours) would be better and easier. We want to help.. and sometimes, in order to make the progress a bit faster, we push.
I liken it to walking behind someone who's slower than we are. We have the urge to reach out and push them to go faster but the outcome would not be good. We could cause them to stumble, to trip, to fall. We could cause them great injury and, truthfully, it wouldn't help us reach our destination faster, nor would we enjoy our way there.
We need to slow down. Think.. We need to realize that not everyone moves at the same pace. Some people can't. Some people simply don't want to. They want to be slower. They want to be thorough. They want to ensure that their job is accomplished correctly and/or that they not only reach their destination but that they enjoy every step it took to get there.
Remember.. progress is progress no matter what speed it's accomplished at. Leave people their time and their space. Noone will trip and fall and it will be a more relaxed and enjoyable journey.
I can guarantee you won't regret it.
Just my two cents.
~~ Peace, LOVE, and Happiness ~~
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