We are all guilty of rushing around trying to cram too much into our already busy lives, multi-tasking and mentally making endless to do lists but every so often something happens that makes me wonder ‘why?’
Today I approached an elderly lady who was travelling in her motorised accessibility vehicle. You know the ones, they look a bit like an armchair on 4 pushchair wheels with a small basket at the front for convenience and a maximum speed of around 10mph. Having just walked up the ramp of a subway that crosses underneath a major A-road, I leant over the railings to ask her if she was alright and she said she was. “Are you sure” I asked, “because you are driving your chair on the road and about to cross 8 lanes of traffic.”
“It’s the quickest way” was her response.
It’s the quickest way
I recently heard a story of a driver who crashed her car. Thankfully, the passengers only suffered minor injuries and there were no other cars involved but the circumstances really made me cross. The driver was on her way to a family party with her elderly mother-in-law and 3 children in the vehicle. She crashed because she was trying to change her shoes whilst driving. This is insanely stupid and obviously dangerous but what on earth was she thinking?
Really, how time poor are you that instead of taking the pedestrian subway or changing your shoes once you have all safely arrived at the party you are willing to put yourself and others in danger? Flip the situation on it’s head and think about how much more time it will cost you if, because you are rushing around and perhaps not taking as much care as you should, you got pulled-over or had even just a minor prang. And how much more annoying would this be?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like being late and I often find myself feeling stressed and under time pressure but when I question ‘is it really worth the risk?’ the answer is usually no. In fact, most of the time when I have accepted I’m going to be late I don’t worry about it anymore. My mood lifts a little and I actually save time because I’m calmer and making better decisions.
Life moves quickly. Sometimes you just have to slow down and think. Be in the moment because as my nan used to say, “It could be worse”