Remember the oyster

Inactivity. Waiting in lines, in offices, in traffic, in elevators. In a pressure-cooker, fast-paced, high-tension, high-living society we’re in, we people would rather do almost anything but wait.

Why do you think they put mirrors inside elevators? So that people can look at themselves and would be so preoccupied, they won’t get irritated waiting for their rides.

I don’t understand why we’re always in a hurry. Just look at the way we drive, or the way people rush to board a plane or get out of it. I’ve learned to wait till everybody has boarded before getting into the plane. This way, I get to read more, and I avoid having to fall in line and move towards the plane at a snail’s pace.

Research has proven that people who are habitually impatient are the ones most prone to be heart attack victims. Proverbs 19:2 says, “Impatience will get you into trouble.” You could probably provide a few personal examples of that truth!

I can. I have, in my impatience, said or done things that I regret to this day. I need something to remind me to be patient every time the impatience flu threatens to attack. I need patience represented like a logo. Let me explain.

Marketing people are good with logos. They have graphical representations of products or services that serve as visual handles for people to remember. Many of the practitioners in marketing call this branding.

I thought about this, and I think that, if there’s an object that could remind me to be patient, a tangible reminder for me to manage my frustrations, exercise patience and wait for the situation to deliver positive results, it would be an oyster.

Here’s a material about the oyster from Illustrations Unlimited credited to an anonymous writer. The next time you have things getting under your skin, instead of being irritated and losing your patience, remember the oyster:

There once was an oyster whose story I tell,

Who found that sand had got under his shell,

Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,

For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.

Now, did he berate the working of Fate?

Which had led him to such a deplorable state?

Did he curse out the government, call for an election?

No; as he lay on the shelf, he said to himself,

“If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it.”

So the years rolled by as the years always do,

And he came to his ultimate destiny – stew.

And this small grain of sand, which had bothered him so,

Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.

Now this tale has a moral – for isn’t it grand

What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;

What couldn’t we do if we’d only begin?

With all of the things that get under our skin.

As you come across people who hit your hot buttons – people like your boss, your workmates, your customers, and yes, even your mother-in-law – and you feel like you’re losing it, remember the oyster.

(I’d love to hear from you! Click on to  or connect with me at . You can also listen to “Business Matters” aired at 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. during weekdays over 98.7 dzFE-FM “The Master’s Touch”, the classical music station.)