This is an old column I wrote in Junior College that I didn't want to lose, so I'm posting it here. It was a good reminder.

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“You can take your time if you want,” he said. I didn’t think I heard him right. “Do what, sir?” I replied, looking at the lines of impatient people behind him and the frantic bustle of fellow employees around me. “I just said you can take your time if you want.”
Shock, no it was a little more than that. It was something that went down deeper.
Dealing with the public is different from other types of work. It’s mentally, emotionally, and relationally draining. Constant interaction with people that need something from you leaves you empty and unable to communicate sometimes, if only as a result of too much communication.
Working in the fast food business also offers prime opportunities to see how busy people are. Few of them have time to wait, and if they do, they are usually hurried even in their waiting; fidgeting and speaking rapidly out of habit. But here he was, calmly watching me do my best to be as efficient as possible to get to the next person in line, and giving me permission to take my time.
So I did. I didn’t drag it out interminably slow, just took care in the little details of his order that can be overlooked all too easily when a rush hits.
I never told him how much that statement meant. I don’t know if he’d even remember it, but I do. I think about it every time I get stressed out- running from one assignment to another trying to get done on my set time. By then I’m tired and have the strain of the day filling my mind to where it’s hard to enjoy what I have actually accomplished. It’s all too easy to continue on the mental running mill I’ve been on the whole day, worrying about the next problem I need to tackle.
It’s hard to make myself slow down and appreciate what I’m actually doing. When my mom asks if I can ‘please do the dishes,’ it’s hard to concentrate on how blessed I am to have them to clean. To have food to clean off of them. To have the ability to wash them. To quit thinking of the million other things I still have to do.
Everyone today seems to be ironically busy and bored at the same time. So many people are running through life doing things they don’t really enjoy, getting stuck in obligations that are a drag to complete. I haven’t met very many who have the gift to enjoy the moment. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it is a gift, but obtainable through choice.
When I take the time to stop and look around at what I’m passing, I find some of the stress of getting to the destination taken away from being able to enjoy getting there. When I think of all of the little things I appreciate about other people, it makes them easier to deal with when the not-so-good things stick out. When I can take the time to tell the people who put up with me day after day how much I appreciate it, it makes everyone easier to get along with. And when I remember to say I love you to the people that need to hear it, it reminds me of reality. Because in reality, we don’t have much time. We get a few years to enjoy our lives and then they’re over. I don’t want to spend all of mine worrying over things that aren’t relevant. And, I find that I can take the time to enjoy what I’m doing and see the bigger picture in it all when I remind myself that “you can take the time if you want.”