On her blog, “Thoughts, Dots, and Tots,” Hailey describes herself as a “mom, wife, Mormon, counselor and professional worrier with a little obsession with polka dots and zombies.” One day she got really frustrated because of traffic. She was stuck behind an old SUV that seemed to have some problems. Hailey didn’t know what was wrong until she got close enough to read the sign on the back window of the Ford.
The message said “Learning stick shift. Sorry for any delay.” This made her think more about herself than the driver of the SUV. She took a picture of the sign and posted it on Facebook to share her thoughts not just about herself but also about everyone we meet on our journeys.
She realized that since this person was learning how to drive a stick shift, she said: “I showed great patience with their slow shifting; honestly they were doing pretty well for being new at it.”
Then she wondered if she would have been so patient if there hadn’t been a sign there. “I can almost say no,” she thought. This made her see an important issue.
“We don’t know what others are going through,” she pointed out. “We don’t wear signs showing our struggles like ‘Going through a divorce,’ or ‘Lost someone,’ or ‘Feeling down,’ or ‘Diagnosed with cancer.’” If we could see what people are dealing with around us we would be nicer! But we shouldn’t need signs to show kindness; we should give it anyway even if we don’t get their situation. Let’s give everyone some extra patience and love.”
Often times we’re clueless about others’ battles in life; hopefully Hailey’s insight will help teach us all something valuable!
