Every Monday morning at 7:00, I use the services of my rental company's courtesy shuttle to take me from my place of residence to my place of work. And as his solo passenger at that hour (usually), every ride is always a learning experience. Today's ride was no exception and our discussion was even one of coincidence given the start of my day.
The alarm of my clock radio woke me to The Pretenders "I'll Stand By You" at 6:00am, and I laid in bed for another 30 minutes listening to the tunes paying just a little more attention than I used to before [Author's Note: The lyrics to The Pretenders' song was rather poignant for me]. I decided that today I will be more mindful of my actions and took my time to have my shower and get dressed. It was 6:55am by the time I was ready (yes, I take all of 25 minutes to shower and dress in the mornings). I then proceeded to take my time to pack my bag for the day and checked TWICE. I walked out of my residence this morning for the first time certain that I did not forget anything of importance for the day - even the ticket for the concert I will be attending later in the evening.
Promptly at 7:10am, the shuttle came by the corner and with a cheerful greeting, I boarded. Today's conversation was about the patience and people's current lack of patience. We spoke about the importance of delayed gratification in children and teaching them the value of that which they are impatient to obtain/achieve. Yet, the best part of the conversation was towards the end when he said [and I paraphrase, of course], "When you give yourself the time to do something properly and you see the results of such efforts, then you can truly start to appreciate it and with that find worth in yourself." He was giving the example of taking the time to study for a test and be patient when sitting for an exam (the state's licensure exam for social workers to be precise) for which he was ranked 8th among his fellow students. I could not help but smile... it was a start of a good day.
On a separate note, being patient is not only about being so with yourself but also with the people you interact with.
[To continue about it being a good day and the kind knowledge of knowing there is good people, I walked up to my usual coffee cart and sincerely asked if $5.00 would cover a cup of latte and a chocolate croissant (my usual Monday breakfast fare - very Italian). She rang up the register and we saw that I came short by 15 cents, to which she said, "It does not matter. We'll just take it from my tip jar." My heart warmed by her generosity, I paused only to realize suddenly that I did not take into account the handful of change I may have in my wallet. And there it was - 15 cents, and none to be taken from her tipjar. I apologized, but she simply smiled and said, "Nobody counts their change as money they have. Even I forget that." I thanked her again as she prepared my latte.]
very wise - why don't we count our loose change?=)
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