Beware of Being in a Hurry

When you are in a hurry, you can be dangerous. You might do something you’ll regret, or say something you’ll wish you hadn’t. When you are in a hurry is the best time to slow down and engage in “self-talk.” Get a hold of yourself, before becoming temporarily self-forgetful, and doing something out of character. If not your finest hour, do not make it your worst.

I was in a hurry the other day. I rushed into a grocery store needing an uncommon spice for what I was cooking. I was sure the market had it, but had no idea where. Finding an employee, I asked where the spices were located. But he seemed to have no idea, either. Instantly irritated, I barely stopped myself from saying something I would have regretted. Forcing a smile, I said, “thank you anyway.”

I began going across the aisles, looking for the word “spices.” Finally, I found what appeared to be the apparent whereabouts. Walking halfway down the long aisle, I spotted what I was seeking. But that’s not all I spotted: there was a heavy-set woman on an electric wheelchair parked in front of what I came for, blocking me from reaching down and retrieving it from a lower self.

Frustrated immediately, I was fortunately able to stop myself from asking her curtly to “please move” so I could get what I wanted and get out of the store, go home and finish what I was cooking. Yet watching her seriously searching through the shelves, I realized we were in two different places: I hurriedly knew what I wanted but was just not able to reach it; she was gingerly searching this way and that, but was not finding whatever it was she was seeking.

I wondered how else I could view the situation. Slowing down, pulling back the reins of my urgency, I realized what she needed was not for me to say, “move aside,” but rather, “can I help you?” So I asked her that. Looking up at me and my unexpected offer of assistance, she said with pleasant surprise, “Why thank you! I am looking for celery seed, but I just can’t find it.”

I began looking for it, and found it – on the top shelf, out of her reach as surely as what I was seeking was out of my reach. Extending myself, I grabbed a container of celery seed, and handed it to her.

About that time her husband showed up. He had been getting something else from different aisle. We all smiled at each other, and then the woman said a hardy, “Thank you! Have a good day.”

As they moved away, and I easily reached down to finally obtain what I had come there for, I was very thankful I had engaged in self-talk. And that rather than irritating someone because I was in a hurry, rather than passing on my irritation, I had, at least this time, passed on being helpful to another in some small way.

As I walked through the store on the way to the checkout, I thought about how often when we are in a hurry we do not take the time to think about the fact that others may not be in a hurry, that maybe they could use some help or understanding. I realized afresh that we are not here to rush self-servingly through life, but to slow down and help others.

I left that store with more than I came there to get.