Daily Mood Quote - December 3, 2011

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 212 – December 3, 2011

“Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.”

~Unknown Author

Our very old television is dying; it has been with us for quite a while. The set has made a few moves with us and it was occasionally heavily handled. Through it all, it has provided our family with a gateway for news, information and entertainment. We have shared moments of happiness and sorrow in front of its screen. It's been a good television and lasted quite a while, but now it is time to consider replacing it. Because now, we are watching the top two inches of the screen image upside down. Yesterday, we went to the mall to buy some clothes and my husband just happened to come across a television that was on sale. It really was a very good sale, but it seemed the sales person wasn't very interested in selling the sale television. He did however seem keenly tuned into selling another television that cost more and he had more of those sets in stock, than the one that was on sale (so he said).

Okay, I have to ask a few questions here: First if you are having a terrific sale, why wouldn't you have them in stock? Invariably, it seems that the floor model is “the last one.” But, hey no problem, they are more than willing to upgrade you to one that is more expensive. I really have a distaste for “bait and switch” sales technique and it's become the standard practice of many retailers in these tough economic times. What bugs me is that usually when its a great sale, the store has three or four of them sitting the the stockroom for months on end “on hold” with employees names stuck to them (my husband use to work in retail and has seen this before).

The point is, the change from what we wanted to what they wanted to sell left us, as a family, undecided. So, we took a walk and got some dinner, talked and weighed the pro's and con's. We decided we needed a television, but should it be that particular one was left kind of “hanging.” I must say, if it were the sale television, the decision would have been easy, it was a great sale. Unfortunately, the other television did cost more and lacked a certain feature my husband was looking for, so in the end we decided not buy the television from Sears yesterday. It will have to wait until we feel as if a salesperson if being honest and listening to us. I understand they work on commission, but being in a hurry to make a sale and focusing on one answer is a classic sign of impatience.

So, we hit an impasse. We almost fell prey to our own impatience...the cultural emphasis to “get it now” and bought into the salesperson's emotional investment in the sale of one particular solution. Are sales people ever taught to listen? Or, is it that it's the holiday season and it is “all about the money?” Man, does that ever miss the point! For the first time in a long time, I felt as if the employee was working only for a commission and not necessarily listening at all to what we wanted. That's a rare thing at Sears, but it was clear we were getting a bum's rush. Which I don't understand, he didn't even try to sell us, or compare higher quality, larger TVs, or ask about our needs. We had to force him to show us specs. online, because he “didn't have one out of the box. “Curiouser and curiouser.” (thank you Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland) .

Benjamin Franklin said, “He that can have patience, can have what he will.” So not buying that television means we will eventually get what we want, at the price we want, when the time is right. Not because a salesperson simply wants to make a sale. You see, I have always believed you should get what you want and not what is being shoved at you. If they don't have what you want, walk away and be patient enough to wait, or look someplace else. Never settle, even if it takes a while to achieve your goal.

Patience has become somewhat of a lost art in our culture and is quickly becoming one of the most frustrating, even dangerous habits of western civilization. There is an overwhelming emphasis on the “I want it all.... and I want it now” lifestyle (Thanks Queen and Freddie Mercury from their The Miracle album). This lack of patience is at the very root of our current economic crisis and boils down to a change in how we think. I'm not sure where or when it started (I suspect with the first credit card), but it has lead otherwise intelligent people to make some very bad decisions and enabled a culture of greed, selfishness and egotism. Let's face it; it's sooooo easy to buy in to the rap and just get it to get it and be done. We all seem to be in such a hurry to get where we are going, that we leave common sense on the roadside behind us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “ patience and fortitude conquer all things” and he has a point. I sincerely believe, that if our culture doesn't regain some semblance of patience, we will have a very tough time getting out of the deep economic hole we have dug. The old saying goes “when you find yourself in a hole... stop digging!” Better to wait, rest up and figure a better way out... patience. Usually, if you are patient and “alert” (Websters; n: an attitude of vigilance, readiness, caution... ) a solution that is better in every way will present itself. Again, it appears to be a lost art, but patience is so critically important with others, events and just as importantly with yourself. Patience and it's importance is a subject that bears deeper reflection and in the future I will offer some more thoughts from the collected wisdom of mankind on this subject... we'll just have to wait until it all comes together...."just a little patience" (thanks Guns and Roses).

How will you exhibit “patience” today?