I don't really do a quote of the day, this is more the Quote of the Year:
Last year at family camp (our annual tradition) someone mentioned to me, in one of those conversations that unfold sitting around the porch, that it is impossible to be kind when you are in a hurry.
I've thought about this many times over the past year - it is SO true. And I am always in a hurry - rushing off to pick up a kid, getting to the pool before it closes, trying to get out of the grocery store in time for a conference call, driving madly to yoga class (which should be a contradiction in terms right there.) And yes, it is impossible to be kind when you are late.
So today as I was checking out of the grocery store, a shopping trip for my son's pool party (which he told me about only this morning) that I managed to wedge in between making it to the morning lap swim (which only goes from 9-10:45 am) and getting on to my 11 am conference call for work, after getting off a plane last night and having my first full night's sleep in a week...and the cashier started inspecting the granola I was buying to ask if it had any nuts, since it looked good and she is allergic. I was already annoyed because she had prolonged the transaction before me by having a conversation with the woman ahead of me about her twins, and I was about to put on my annoyed city slicker face when I remembered the Quote of the Year. Would it really make a difference to engage in a 30 second conversation with this woman about my granola? Of course, not. So I remembered to be kind.
One of the outcomes of our lifestyle is that we are always in a hurry. And always running late. At least I am. It is so wearing and it has a cost not just on our own nervous systems and hormonal responses, but on others around us.
I am going to try and opt more for kindness and less for timeliness.
Last year at family camp (our annual tradition) someone mentioned to me, in one of those conversations that unfold sitting around the porch, that it is impossible to be kind when you are in a hurry.
I've thought about this many times over the past year - it is SO true. And I am always in a hurry - rushing off to pick up a kid, getting to the pool before it closes, trying to get out of the grocery store in time for a conference call, driving madly to yoga class (which should be a contradiction in terms right there.) And yes, it is impossible to be kind when you are late.
So today as I was checking out of the grocery store, a shopping trip for my son's pool party (which he told me about only this morning) that I managed to wedge in between making it to the morning lap swim (which only goes from 9-10:45 am) and getting on to my 11 am conference call for work, after getting off a plane last night and having my first full night's sleep in a week...and the cashier started inspecting the granola I was buying to ask if it had any nuts, since it looked good and she is allergic. I was already annoyed because she had prolonged the transaction before me by having a conversation with the woman ahead of me about her twins, and I was about to put on my annoyed city slicker face when I remembered the Quote of the Year. Would it really make a difference to engage in a 30 second conversation with this woman about my granola? Of course, not. So I remembered to be kind.
One of the outcomes of our lifestyle is that we are always in a hurry. And always running late. At least I am. It is so wearing and it has a cost not just on our own nervous systems and hormonal responses, but on others around us.
I am going to try and opt more for kindness and less for timeliness.
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