Patience

"Have patience, have patience. Don't be in such a hurry. When you get impatient you only start to worry...." This was from a little song I used to sing along with on my record player as a little kid. I was humming it to myself today as I was leaving the market.

I needed groceries. Munchkin #1 was playing at a friend's house, so Munchkin #2 and I went to get food. The store was packed. After waiting for a parking spot for about 5-10 minutes (really, it wasn't a bad wait), we managed an excellent parking space.

After we finished with our shopping, we had 4 large reusable grocery bags that were rather full. My vehicle of choice is smallish and has almost no cargo space. As I proceeded to wrestle my bags into my vehicle, I noticed (and Munchkin #2 pointed out to me) that there was a large SUV waiting for my parking space. And, stacked up behind the SUV was a long line of cars. Being fully aware of the chaos behind me, I was doing my best to be speedy about things. People began to honk. The security guy came up to me and pointed out to me that the big SUV was waiting for my spot. As I helped my daughter into my vehicle, I told the security guy that the SUV would have to be patient and wait like everyone else does for a space, and that I was already moving as quickly as possible.

What was mind-blowing about the whole thing was the fact that security came and told me to hurry rather than tell the SUV to simply go down the next row to the EMPTY spot. Frankly, I almost felt like saying, "Oh wow. I forgot something. I need to go back into the store," and then proceed inside to roam about a bit just because.

Good thing I didn't lose my patience. I was very close. And so goes life in a place that still some days feels very foreign.

Peace.