St Conti Communicator

Archive for February 25th, 2009

It was a hectic Friday morning, one in which I was running several errands and feeling very much in a hurry prior to starting my work routine for the day.  I had to have some keys made, so I went to the local hardware store.  I expected to simply have a key made.  I was handed a key to simple wisdom.

At first I was annoyed.  The older man in charge of making the keys was not in the same hurry that I was in.  Rather, he shuffled slowly, smiling all the while.  His gate arrested mine.

I told him simply, “I need a key.”  He responded, “That’s what I’m here for.”

He suggested I take one of the designer keys to suit my personality.  There are keys painted with smiley faces, hearts, flowers, and a dozen more designs.  He waited patiently as I quickly shuffled through the keys.  He whistled quietly, still smiling.  I selected a patriotic key, one covered in small American flags.

He said, “Good choice.  That’s a good one.”

This time, it was my turn to smile a little.

As he was making my key, an announcement came over the loudspeaker, “Keys, Line 1!  Keys, Line 1!”

I said to him, “You seem to be pretty busy today.  Go ahead; answer Line 1.”

He smiled and said, “Yep, when I am finished serving you.”  He returned his focus to my key.

Something in the exchange triggered a memory for me.  It reminded me of a saying that a spiritual advisor used to tell me. 

He used to say, “Relax into it.”  It was his philosophy on how to deal with stress.  Relax into a situation to let your mind think more clearly, and often the solution presents itself.  The philosophy applies to any situation, even if it doesn’t involve a problem or challenge.  Relax into it, and things will go better.

My thoughts brought me to a more recent example about handling stressful situations.  A friend of mine, Beth Brownlee of Trust Your Journey, launched her company on the concept of relaxing into a stressful situation, of trusting one’s journey, even the major challenges presented by Life, as a way of growing and living a fulfilled life.  Beth overcame breast cancer.

Somehow this key man reminded me of what I already know, and I’m glad he did. 

I left the store relaxed and smiling.  The key man gave me back my key to the simple wisdom of “relaxing into it.”

DSJC