It isn’t just the summer that is slipping away. Months and years are passing so quickly. Perhaps it is time to focus on what you want your next few years to include, while there is still time. Maybe it is time to decide what behaviors we want in change in ourselves.

With August soon to arrive, the summer of 2024 is almost a wrap. Has this summer been a good one for you? Is there something you wanted to do this summer that you haven’t yet done? If so, it is time to get busy on that before the summer slips away.

I want more kindness in my life. I want to be kinder, and I want to surround myself with people who are kind. I also want more patience. I want to exhibit more patience, and I want others to be more patient with me. Even in the best of times, life can be difficult. We only need to open our eyes to the struggles some others have to really appreciate what we have.

I have had an experience in the past few days that highlights the importance of both kindness and patience.  Life can be so difficult at times that it is easy for our patience to wear thin and our behavior to be less than kind. We are so often in a hurry that our temper gets short when we have delays, especially delays that are unnecessary.

Those who know me can attest to the fact that I am usually in a hurry, even if there is no need to rush. Given this, when I encounter delays, especially those that make no sense, I can react. When this happens, kindness is not what the other person usually sees in me. I decided to work on this and improve in this area.

I was in Virginia helping a relative clean out and pack up for a move. I went to a storage facility to see a unit he is considering renting. I booked a reservation for this by phone. When I arrived at the facility at 1:40pm, there was a sign on the door that read “the office is closed every day from 1-2pm,” and there was another sign that read “I will return at 2:05pm.” This facility was a fifteen-minute drive from my cousin who I was helping’s home. I was short on time with all that needed to be done before leaving later in the afternoon to make the three-hour drive home. This delay would affect how much I was able to get done.

I was not happy about what I considered a lapse in customer service. Why was this information not provided to me when I booked the reservation? This was a systems lapse, and reinforced my philosophy, “People don’t fail, systems do.”  

I had a choice to make. Regardless of what I thought about the lapse in customer service, regardless of how much the problem delayed what I needed to get done, I had a choice to make. I could get angry and let the staff person know what I thought about their lapse in customer service! Or I could accept the delay, be kind to the staff person, and patiently do what I came there to do. I made the latter choice. This is not how my nature wanted to behave, but for whatever reason, I decided I would exhibit patience and kindness. I felt good about my behavior, so good that I think I will behave better in other interactions. Not all interactions most likely, but more!

Lacking patience and not being kind may not be your challenge. You may already have those mastered. But there might be other behavior changes you need to make to be a better person.  I don’t know what those are, but you do.

How about getting started working on what improvements you want to make? This last month of summer 2024 can be the time that you master a behavior change that you want/need to make.

I would love to hear about your success.