Yesterday morning, Briella and I had a great breakfast at the diner, while Brayden was working out with his strength and conditioning coach. After the diner, we ventured to Walmart. I use the word ventured because we certainly encountered the unexpected. But it turned out to be a wonderful way to exercise our tools, so we were grateful for the experience.
When we walked into the store, we noticed the line for self-checkout coiling like a snake to the back of the store. We kept walking and I secretly hoped it would clear by the time we were ready to leave. We only needed a few items:
1. A small tarp to cover the bunny hutch I bought for Brayden’s rabbit.
2. Printer paper
3. Paper plates
4. Toiletry products
After we gathered our items, we pushed our cart to the register area but the line was even longer than when we first entered the store. We took our place in line and tried to ignore the people yelling about having to wait. It started to get loud and I actually felt like the crowd might become hostile. Briella thought the same thing. We don’t always use words but we communicate often through thought.
The elderly lady behind us, kept saying things like, “This is horrible. It’s such an outrage.” I tired not to make eye contact in an attempt to avoid connecting with her energy but the one time I did, I smiled kindly at her. I said to Briella, “This is a good lesson in patience for us.” She nodded her head in agreement.
I could not change the fact that the store had a total of two cashiers on a busy Sunday with over a hundred shoppers in the building but I could try to diffuse the intensity. I said to Briella, “Send love from your heart to the whole place. If someone wants to connect to it, they will but this is what we can do to aid this situation.”
Briella closed her eyes and focused on sending the energy out and I did the same. When she opened her eyes, she smiled at me because she should feel the shift. Within a few minutes, people on line were looking at their phones and talking to each other about things besides waiting in line. It felt more calm and we moved quickly through the line.
The cashier took several minutes to put extra plastic bags on the circular bag holder, as we were waiting for her to ring-up our items. I felt my energy rising and my ego wanted to say, “Are you kidding me, lady.” I just wanna get out of this store. Move it, along!” But then she looked up at me with a gentle smile and started talking about her favorite movie. I suddenly, re-centered myself and tried to understand that she was doing the best she could, at that time. I could leave; she had to stay there until the end of her shift.
When we got in the car, I explained to Briella,”In every situation in life, you have a choice about how to respond. You can choose love, or you can choose anything other than love. You may not be in control of the situation you find yourself in but you can always control your energy and your response to the energy around you. Always choose love!” She looked at me and said, “I know, mom. Even when it’s hard, I do my best to be loving.” Honestly, it’s true. She is very kind and loving to people all the time. Our children can learn from us. Lead by example; lead with love.
Namaste,
Anysia