Do You Have It?
There is a sickness among us, and I don’t mean the Pig Flu. It is a sickness that we all experience at some point. It’s called “hurry sickness.” The term hurry sickness was created by Dr. Meyer Friedman as an identifier for Type A personalities. Most of us know hurry sickness as impatience, and we all have bouts with it from time-to-time. Do you doubt me? Think about the last time you had to wait in a line somewhere. I guarantee at some point in your wait you thought “what’s taking so long…I don’t have time to wait in a line.” Sound familiar?
I know I have hurry sickness. Sometimes it consumes me and other times I just laugh it off. One of my funnier hurry sickness related ailments is my OCD to respond to texts and emails as soon as I get them. Why? I think it is tied to my sensitivity to time and how important it is as it is the one thing in our lives that can’t be replaced. That is the only logical answer I’ve come up with anyway.
I read about a public service announcement used by the California Highway Department to “slow for the cone zone.” The announcement refers to slowing down from 65 to 55 in construction zones as so many workers have been killed by speeders. To put it in perspective, it takes 10 seconds longer over a one mile area of construction. Certainly, a life is worth the extra 10 seconds.
We all have the hurry disease. Unless you are in a coma, you have some bout with it every single day. One thing I’ve started doing when I hear someone say “I don’t have time”, is to spin it and ask “what else would you be doing at this very instant in time?” I’ve found that asking that simple can stop the hurry disease in its track as the other party has to change their thinking off of the disease to process the question. When you feel the hurry disease flaring up today, take a minute to ask yourself that very question. Strive to manage the hurry disease rather than letting the disease manage you. It goes back to the old saying: “change your thinking and change your life.”
There is a sickness among us, and I don’t mean the Pig Flu. It is a sickness that we all experience at some point. It’s called “hurry sickness.” The term hurry sickness was created by Dr. Meyer Friedman as an identifier for Type A personalities. Most of us know hurry sickness as impatience, and we all have bouts with it from time-to-time. Do you doubt me? Think about the last time you had to wait in a line somewhere. I guarantee at some point in your wait you thought “what’s taking so long…I don’t have time to wait in a line.” Sound familiar?
I know I have hurry sickness. Sometimes it consumes me and other times I just laugh it off. One of my funnier hurry sickness related ailments is my OCD to respond to texts and emails as soon as I get them. Why? I think it is tied to my sensitivity to time and how important it is as it is the one thing in our lives that can’t be replaced. That is the only logical answer I’ve come up with anyway.
I read about a public service announcement used by the California Highway Department to “slow for the cone zone.” The announcement refers to slowing down from 65 to 55 in construction zones as so many workers have been killed by speeders. To put it in perspective, it takes 10 seconds longer over a one mile area of construction. Certainly, a life is worth the extra 10 seconds.
We all have the hurry disease. Unless you are in a coma, you have some bout with it every single day. One thing I’ve started doing when I hear someone say “I don’t have time”, is to spin it and ask “what else would you be doing at this very instant in time?” I’ve found that asking that simple can stop the hurry disease in its track as the other party has to change their thinking off of the disease to process the question. When you feel the hurry disease flaring up today, take a minute to ask yourself that very question. Strive to manage the hurry disease rather than letting the disease manage you. It goes back to the old saying: “change your thinking and change your life.”
Amen! LOL on this one!
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