Quiet Mode

My day was packed with lab tests, meetings, training, chapel services. A busy day, especially for me as I am just getting back into the swing of things. I have already let go of some activities I normally do around the holiday times like sending Christmas cards. Just don't have the uumpfh to do it this year. It's OK.

While I hadn't shifted into fast mode quite yet, I was no longer limping along at slow speed. Where once a 90 year old guy passed me in the cancer center hall and looked back at me with pity, today I passed another cancer patient moving along slowly with the help of a cane. I smiled to realize how much easier it is for me to navigate the hallways! No more stooping over or shuffling feet or having to sit down on the bench halfway there.

I checked in as usual, had my vitals taken, and was directed to the first room in the lab center. I sat for about ten minutes waiting for the nurse to finish with another patient, when the woman I had passed in the hall checked in, had her vitals taken, and was directed to the first room in the lab center!

She told the nurse that there was already someone in the first room, and she didn't think the person would appreciate having someone sit on their lap. I giggled. We exchanged pleasantries while we waited for "service." I was curious what she was in for, but had no desire to intrude on her privacy, so I did not ask.

We both sat quietly, enjoying the privilege of just sitting still while the world around us rushed and hurried and fussed and stressed. We could hear the punchy conversations, the groaning of patients struggling to walk, the rattle of wheelchairs, the beeping of equipment. Steps echoed in the hall just past our retreat while the golf cart delivered yet another unfortunate to the infusion area.

We just sat, enjoying the opportunity to breathe deeply without interference of drugs or chemo or tubes or IVs. Neither of us felt compelled to hurry the nurse along. We were in no rush to join the moving mass of humanity on the other side of the curtain.

When the nurse did come in, I just smiled, and she immediately calmed down, took her time. After the lab work was complete, I stayed in quiet mode for most of the rest of the day. After sauntering down the hallways and back to the parking garage, I stopped for a hot chocolate which I enjoyed immensely as I watched the scurrying crowds around me.

Back on campus, I took my time and refused to stress about meetings and trainings. Just take things as they come today. Stay at peace. Pay attention to the quiet, for that is when you hear the silent cries of the desperate. And you have the time to do something about them.