Today I Am Thinking About Patience.
Today I am thinking about patience. I am thinking about how I respond to people. I consider myself a fairly patient person. Being a mom of 8 boys and 3 girls requires one to acquire some. Books help me with my patience, so I usually have my Bible or a book nearby just in case I am stuck in traffic or anytime I am waiting so that I can trade a joy for a frustration. But even patient people have their moments. So this is what happened this week.
Surgical Center
On Monday I drove my mother for a procedure at a surgical center. The procedure was short and due to Covid and my broken foot I dropped her off at the door. The staff had my phone number and sent updates by text.
Beautiful Day
It was a beautiful autumn day. The sun was shining as I sat under the shade of a large tree with my car windows down, listening to an audio book. The procedure went great and soon she was walking out the door chatting with the nurses. Her folder was complete with contact info should we have any questions, photos and follow up instructions.
Quick Stop at the Pharmacy
The center had called in her prescription so our first stop was the pharmacy. My mom and I chatted as we waited our turn in line. When I reached the window I found out that her prescription had been called in to another pharmacy down the road. As a result I had to choose: they could transfer it or just pick it up at the other location. This would be faster they said. I chose to go to the other pharmacy. On the way I swung through the Panera drive through and got my mom some soup to take home.
Second Pharmacy – Thinking About Patience
As I drove up to the other pharmacy I noticed there was no line. At the window there was a sign that said no pharmacist on duty. Picking up my cell phone I tried calling the first pharmacy and was on hold 20+ minutes before I arrived back and got in line again and gave up the phone option.
When I reached the window I was a little frustrated. I explained what had happened and they seemed to have a hard time believing me. I told them my mom had now been in the car driving around after her procedure for over an hour! They explained this was not there fault that they were very busy and understaffed. They told me there was pharmacist at the other location now. I said no transfer the prescription. She told me it would be an hour. I said do it! I took my mother home and waited over an hour and went back for the prescription.
Third Trip – Thinking About Patience
As I sat in the long line for the third time I was not very happy that this had taken so long. If fact it was taking longer to get her prescription than the whole procedure had taken. It was a bad situation for me, for my mom and actually for the pharmacy.
How Should I Respond?
How should I respond in this situation? I realized I had a choice to make. It is true that this person did not really cause the problem. Could they have done a better job? Yes! What are my options? I could take my frustration out on this technician who actually showed up for work today. Wouldn’t I be justified? Or I could call corporate and complain. Google revenge, I could give them a bad rating on google. Or I could smile and say thank you. I chose the latter.
An amazing thing happened. I felt a lot better as I drove off. The frustration was gone and I finally had the prescription.
Today I Am Thinking About Patience
I wondered to myself, what would happen if I chose to give patient responses or showed kindness instead of frustration, even when it didn’t seem to be deserved? What if I did this for a day? What if for just one day I gave up my rights, my expectations, my will? Could I for a whole day treat everyone with patience and kindness even in situations like these? What if everyone chose to just be nice especially in bad situations?
As I tried this, I noticed so many nice gestures people made: Helping open doors, offering a chair to someone, carrying boxes for people, and just smiling. It’s amazing what you see when you look!
Maybe you do not struggle with this at all. That’s great. However, if you do struggle then try this challenge and see what happens.
Let’s Try This!
In conclusion, let me challenge you to try this for one day or even one week. Make a choice to respond with a smile or at least patience and kindness even if someone makes a mistake on your order, even if they drop your call after you’ve been on hold for almost an hour, or deliver your package to the wrong door or mistakenly send you to a closed pharmacy.
Please share what happens when you try this!