This morning, I was scheduled for a dentist appointment following taking my daughter to school. It was a gorgeous morning – sunny, bright blue sky with all the lush plants blooming. One of those mornings where a bad mood can literally evaporate back into that magnificent sky. Luckily though, I was in a great frame of mind. After I left the school parking lot, I decided to pick up a few books on hold for me at the local library before heading to the appointment. I got three great books; I am very excited to dive into them. As I was driving my way over to my next stop, I was trying to make a left-hand turn onto a very busy road. It’s rush hour and the street was packed; there were no breaks in between cars for me to make an escape. There were a few potential ‘moments of (very questionable) opportunity’ to make the turn. Suddenly, I started to get those anxious knots in my stomach. You know, the ones where traffic is so mind-bogglingly busy when you are trying to make the turn and you know you can’t without getting into an accident or at best, a very ‘close call.’ Exasperated by the fact that you think you see the driver behind you in your rearview mirror annoyed and so you start to fixate on WHY IS THIS TAKING SO LONG and WHEN WILL I BE ABLE TO GO?!

Then I caught myself. Why am I going to let this frustrate and upset me? My morning was great, I am still going to be on time for my appointment and I will go when there’s a safe opportunity. Getting worked up about this is ridiculous and only affects my overall well-being. So what if that driver behind me thinks I’m too slow? There’s also a good chance he’s not even thinking that and it’s me projecting. After (what felt like 800 years) I made the turn; but as I did, I had a little ‘Aha’ (as Oprah likes to call them) moment. Life really is like making a turn, you want something or something(s) so bad, you often try to force the moment to happen – it’s too short, too tight, too busy (basically whenever it perhaps is just NOT meant to be). Then the moment you let your guard down, accept it – don’t worry so much about it = BAM! Space or opportunity for that turn (life moment) takes place. For me when I’m calm and rational, I can see that it all comes back to being patient, instilling calmness and remaining kind (yes even to those who you really don’t want to 😊). The more I read about it, I see it’s true – it takes much more strength to not react negatively to the situation or person and act on that 1^st thought that pops into your head. However, I have also experienced that after you’ve summoned the strength to remain calm, you truly feel immense pride and gratitude in and of yourself.

And you can then – safely – make it to your dentist appointment or wherever else you may be headed. I guess Tom Cochrane was right all along.😉

Be patient, calm and kind.