It goes like this:
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But, I'm in a hurry and don't know why
Don't know why
I have to drive so fast
My car has nothing to prove
It's not new, but it'll do 0-60 in 5.2, oh
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But, I'm in a hurry and don'tknow why
Can't be late
I leave in plenty of time
Shakin' hands with the clock
I can't stop
I'm on a roll and I'm ready to rock Oh
[chorus]
I heard a voice
It says I'm running behind
I better pick up my pace
It's a race and there ain't no room for someone in second place
[chorus]
Okay, so you get the point. I'm not sure why, but it's the perfectionist, over-achiever in me that just wants to accomplish WAY too much instead of enjoying the journey. I think I've mellowed out quite a bit since my childhood, but I'm still pretty driven and lose track of life very easily. I have to remind myself to enjoy the little things. So today when we got stopped at the train tracks, I had to laugh at myself. You know the scene well. You're trying to get all the errands done and you have to hurry to get home and feed the kids dinner....yada, yada, yada. And these particular tracks always seem to stop you at the most inopportune times and have the longest trains EVER! Well, despite all this, I was so happy to be stopped by the train. We were only two cars back and got to watch the lights come on and the crossing guard railing things close down. I heard my inner voice cheering, so excited that Dylan got to watch the WHOLE train as it went by. Once I realized how suddenly optimistic I'd become, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. And I was not disappointed one bit. Dylan commented on the lights, the train, the oil cars, how many cars there were, where's the caboose... I can't even begin to name all the comments and questions that came out of that one little experience. I guess that's what kids are meant to help us do - learn things that would otherwise be pretty difficult for us to learn. My patience and optimism are coming slowly but surely through these precious little souls that try so hard to teach me, yet I forget to listen.
I remember my mom telling a story about my sister, Melissa. I don't remember how old she was at the time, but she is 4 years younger than I am and I was old enough to remember this story very clearly. She was maybe between 4 and 6 years old. Something like that. My mom had a similar experience. She was in a hurry and ended up hitting a red light at a stop light. She was pretty flustered and wishing she had sped up or somehow made the light. And then she hears this little voice coming from the backseat say, "Yeah, now we're first in line." My mom's mood was completely flipped upside down. It put the smile right back on her face. Anyway, that's what the train did for me. I'm learning to appreciate the "trains" in life the way children do.
Despite such a great experience, my patience flew out the window when I realized the stupid tomato cages were sold out AGAIN. There goes another day of errand running. On my flustered drive back, I saw a sign with the following saying on it: "Genius is having eternal patience." -Michaelangelo
Apparently I need multiple daily lessons to even begin to grasp some of these basic principles. So off I go to learn to be a genius... Wish me luck!
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