A lot lately. More than usual. It seems to happen when you have hard times, you think a lot more and sometimes it's thinking about how bad the situation is, or how to get out of the situation, or you're just thinking about when times were good. Regardless, I feel we tend to think more during hard times.
So, say you're on the way home from the store, and you get behind someone that's driving slow, or at least slower than you are and want to be. You're on a curvy road with hills, and there's no safe way to pass. Slowly getting more and more angry because this slow person is in front of you. Whether it be some old grandma or grandpa, someone rambling on their stupid cell phone, or just someone driving slow because they're driving slow, they're in front of you and it's annoying.
You finally get the chance on a small straight to pass, and you zoom by them. Shoot them a dirty look, a hand gesture, or whatever, and you take off, just to get over the hill, or around the next curve, and there's a line of cars with someone driving even slower at the front, and you're not going to be able to pass. Now you're twice as mad, and you've saved what, 2 seconds? Just to be stuck again, and now that slow person you just passed is right behind you again. So much for that 2 seconds.
In the grand scheme of things, what were you going to do with that 2 seconds? Even if it's 2 minutes that you get home quicker? Was it really worth that much for that small amount of time in your overall day?
Problem is, this happens a lot. To all of us. And not just while driving. We've become impatient in life, and there's really no reason nor excuse for it. Unless it's some life threatening emergency, then why not just lean back, and drive? Especially on a gorgeous day like today.
I was in this situation on my way home this morning. Never got the chance to pass the guy, but when we got over the hill and he sped up a little, we came across the line of cars just like I described. And I got to thinking about this. I'm guilty of it too.
Why are we in such a rush to get nowhere fast? That person in the car in front of you going slow...some grandma or grandpa...they've lived long enough and done probably more than several of you and your friends combined...don't they deserve to drive how they want?
That person that's just driving slow to be driving slow. Are they just enjoying the beautiful day? Could something be really wrong in their life and they're driving slow because they can't fully concentrate on driving fast? Maybe they're driving slow because they're afraid of those fast drivers like you and me...
Or the person on the cell phone...well, I've nothing to say about that. Shouldn't be happening. But that's what we've adapted to in life. We can't live without our cell phones and our ipods and our iphones and nonsense. We can't survive that drive home without having to talk to someone...
We walk through stores or malls and we come across someone walking slow in front of us. We'll wedge ourselves between that old couple and a group of on-comers just to get around them, instead of waiting a few seconds and stepping by them while saying excuse me with a smile.
We're not polite anymore, we forgot what manners are, and we're not teaching it to our children. We're impatient because we don't take the time to remember patience. Even though things would be so much easier, faster, better if we did.
Let's not try to dwell on the bad stuff, let's look forward to the future and try and make it a better place for us and our children. That's what we should be thinking.
I've had a pretty rough week, and through God's graces we've had wonderful friends and family pick us up and keep us going until we were able to stand on our feet. Just like old times.
A smile goes a longer way than a frown, and it's much more appealing.
Hopefully you'll be thinking too. Just remember; it may not be much to you, but it could be a miracle to someone else. And even the smallest miracle is a great miracle.
