Beep! Beep! I’m in a Hurry!

I flew down the stairs, grabbed my coat and scrambled out the door while pressing the remote to start the car. I backed out of the driveway and checked the clock on the dashboard. Late, as usual!

Three minutes later I was standing impatiently at the coffee shop waiting for my turn. Can’t they move any faster! Some of us need to get back on the road!  I started to step up to the counter  when a petite woman wearing a blue cape breezed past me.

“Hello, hello,” she said. “I’m in a terrible hurry. Please ask the chef if he could make that special order of breakfast for me right away. I’ll take my coffee now.” My jaw dropped when the clerk sauntered off to get the chef. Both returned in a bit and while the chef was talking to the woman, the clerk turned to pour the coffee. What!!!

“Excuse ME,” I said, stepping forward. “I have a meeting with a client in 15 minutes. Could you make THAT coffee a medium size, medium roast to go please – now.” The clerk did a double take, filled my order and out the door I dashed.

Afterwards, I thought about the woman in the blue cape. She had the clerk bewildered, the chef jumping and I vexed just because she was in a hurry. Did I elicit similar reactions in others when I was in a rush? Most likely – yes. Yet ultimately the person I hurt the most was Me. I was racing around tense, anxious, worried, snappy, and agitated before the episode and long afterwards.  Imagine what all these negative emotions were doing to my physical body!

I decided to search Google for some information. Here’s what I concluded.

In our fast paced, multi-tasking culture, rushing appears to be a state of mind. Having a hurry mindset keeps us energized and filling our days to the brim. We wave around our hurry lists like badges of honor. It provides us an excuse to behave as we do and explain away any defects in our deliverables. It allows us to be on time; waiting time is often considered wasted time (particularly if there is no Wi-Fi access).

Hurry is exhausting me. It should be the exception in life threatening emergencies, not the norm. I don’t like what it is doing to me. I don’t like what I am doing to others. I’m quitting the hurry revolution. I’ve already changed my view of what is a priority and the way I manage my ‘to do’ lists and schedules. It’s taken me a life time to get wound up, so I suspect it will take me awhile to become internally calm and outwardly relaxed in all that I do. I’ll be arriving at my appointments in just the perfect time and a lot less frazzled.

 Daily Prompt