TRANSFORMED MOMENTS
By VicToria Freudiger
September 24, 2002
Sparkling sunshine; yes, what an awesome sight coming through my car windows. Such a nice way to start the day. A beautiful crisp cool morning, still too many fast moving cars are on this busy Metroplex highway. Oh gosh how a moment can be different in just seconds. It is Tuesday and my second day on a new assignment. Rich environment with all the necessities and perquisites one could ask for in a working environment.
The atmosphere of the morning actually turned different when my awareness was forced in just ten minutes towards my discovery of how complicated one moment can begin to feel. My one moment began to feel as if it were hours and all this change happened in only seconds.
Never knowing what one moment to the next will be like is partly the reason I find it worth getting up each day. It is my belief that if one knew what might be in store for them beforehand, they would either pull the covers up over their heads or stay in bed. I suppose that a person might get up and escalate to a massive hurry in order to get where they were going if they only knew what the outcome might be. Either way, maybe the results would change not for the better if we knew ahead of time what was in store for our moments.
This morning I left for work ten minutes earlier because yesterday's timeframe left me a bit late for work. As I traveled through Dallas' heavy traffic and the car clock began to descend towards the suggested arrival time of the office, my nervousness grew. Cars were whizzing by and attendants quickly took the tools paid on the tollway. Anxiety was coming from all directions and I am sure, any driver if asked, would have said, "Yes, I feel the anxiety - what is a person to do?" People everywhere making decisions of what lane might be best for them to travel in and for those who were used to the tollway, this seemed to come easy. However, as this was my second day in years to travel downtown, my anxious thoughts were unavoidable for me.
Finally, I could see the end of the tollway was upon me. I peered in my rear view mirror and saw a brand new white SUV coming up on my back bumper. Even with my turning my head around and staring right at her, the car did not slow and she did not move her over to the other lane. So not getting the response needed, I waved at the woman driving the SUV and mouthed the words, "Please move over." She got closer instead to my car's back bumper. Next, I mouthed to her with more firmness, "Get away from my car." She shoved her arm in the air with the ultimate of rudeness and refused to move even an inch. Next, she actually got closer to my car and touched the back bumper on purpose seemingly just to upset me. Then she began to get furious when I turned my blinker on and I turned left on my designated street. By this time, I was barely able to drive another block with my heart racing and my knees shaking. I was not too happy about the way my day had begun.
Anger nearing rage came on me just as a net thrown over a bear caught in the woods. I could hardly contain myself. "How could anyone be in that big of a hurry? Where could anyone be going that could be that important?" I asked myself these questions repeatedly as I drove my next two blocks to the parking garage where I could finally stop, park, and get out of the car.
The lady in the SUV traveled on towards her destination. I had no other option but to do the same. As I sat at my desk at work and reflected, I thought, "My ascent into the parking garage went easier for me than the drive to work and I guess I just have to accept this." However, the scowl was not disappearing from my face. The business individuals in the elevator had felt my anger as I had felt the anger of the driver behind me. They had not wanted to stand close to me. My thoughts reached another level with, "You are probably safer not picking up my vibes," which had caused a softening of my brow.
Now I will share with you the difference a second or two makes. Once I descended upon my desk, my whole existence seemed to change. I met Patty Robison for the first time and she shared a few moments of her morning. Patty not only showed me her fabulous artwork and a heartwarming poem; she gave me a graphic illustration piece she had drawn with roses on it that I could keep forever. "Can life be much better than that?" I ask you. What a difference a smile and a moment can make.
Life is richer when we can make decisions to feel comfortable and then be able to maintain that priority of happiness being our choice. After all, aren't we happier in life if we can uncover the necessity of passing on the happiness we find in our transformed moments?
The lady in traffic had no idea that the affect she was trying to instill in my existence was only to last a grand total of ten minutes. Actually, what came to me after meeting Patty was that I needed to take the time to refocus and reassess my existence as being a valuable one. Reality rearranging seems like a jigsaw puzzle at times. This SUV incident proceeded to pass from being yet another experience with anger and moved all the way to being an opportunity to appreciate meeting someone new.
How many people do you meet for the first time in one day? A question to reflect on might be, do you feel you appreciate meeting new people in the moment of anger or in a moment of glee? Are these strangers more likely to mean more to you if you are meeting them in an anger moment?
I am glad I met Patty. For me, what I knew was that my new acquaintance came in a way that might not have meant as much to me as it would have meant had she been the first puzzle piece of my day.
Now, I really have to smile about the miracle that came about that caused my attitude to be allowed to transform quickly. Take a moment with me now and let us wonder how long it took for the lady driving the SUV to lose her anger and anxiety in order to have a nice and happy day.
