Words that caught us: Pressure and stress cause us to act like ambulance drivers

 

"Ambulance drivers

Don’t say please and thank you.

Pressure and stress

Cause us to act like ambulance drivers.

Pressure and stress

Make gratitude feel inconvenient.

Driven people

Have too much to get done

To ‘waste’ time expressing gratitude."

 

This is not to besmirch ambulance drivers.

They perform an important duty in society, 

But the analogy helps us see

Something essential and important - 

What can happen, if we all become 

Ambulance drivers!

 

Until now,

We hadn't fully grasped

The connection

Between busyness and stress,

And ingratitude.

 

That is...

The busier we are,

The more pressure and stress we experience,

And the less likely we are to pause,

And appreciate the present moment,

Or our blessings and achievements.

 

The equation seems to be:

Constant Busyness = Blindness + Ingratitude

 

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

And perhaps that’s why

We are so easily trapped

Into a scarcity mindset…

For,

How can we be kind or generous,

If we have no time,

To notice and appreciate,

What we are blessed with,

And those that need it

More than we do?

 

We have all experienced 

The fruits of this blindness...

People cutting queues,

Drivers cutting lanes,

Passengers littering the streets,

Friends refusing to pay up,

Fraud everywhere,

And people being mean and rude,

For no apparent reason,

Other than the stress and anxiety

They carry within themselves.

 

How did we get here?

Well...we got busy. 

Very busy to care. 

Most of us humans have lost touch

With our humanness. 

Most of us humans have forgotten

That 'Gratitude is the food for the soul' 

And that 'Gratitude is the secret to magnificent success'.

Maybe that’s where the rain

Started beating us –

In our busyness and hustle,

We forgot to live, and let live.

 

Are you too busy to be grateful?

Are you like the ambulance driver…

Too fast, or too much in a hurry to say

‘Please’ or ‘Thank you’?

Where can you slow down a little bit, today?

How will you practice gratitude today?

Who/where can you be kinder today? 

 

*Today's reflection is inspired by this piece by Dan Rockwell