My husband and I were in a restaurant, and my order was wrong.  When I asked the waitress for help, she said, “Oh, I was trying to go too fast.”  So, I waited for the correct order, the cook had to prepare another meal, the restaurant’s food costs doubled, and the waitress had to serve me twice.  Haste makes waste rings true again.

But that was just a meal.  Two years ago, my ophthalmologist told me I needed cataract surgery, but she didn’t have time to talk to me about it.  I was told to just schedule a time for the surgery.  The red flag went up, but I chose to ignore it.  So, on a Tuesday in October, she performed the cataract surgery.  The next day I went to her office for a check-up.   My eye went from 20/40 to 20/70.  Not a good sign.  That afternoon, the doctor called me.  In her haste, she ordered the wrong lens for my eye.  It was 8 degrees weaker than the correct lens.  She just didn’t take the time to read her notes completely.  I had to have a second surgery on Friday to remove the wrong lens and insert the correct lens.  During that surgery, she damaged my eye so that I had to have a lesser quality lens.  Who pays?  Me.   Not her.  I’m not the type to sue.

Our culture today is fast paced.  We are always late, always behind, always pressured to do more and go faster.  Multi-tasking — text and drive.  Look over your schedule.  There are always ways to cut down on the number of activities in which you participate.  Too many demands on our time often eliminate the things that are the most important.  The urgent is the enemy of the important.  So, whatever you are doing, slow down.  The consequences of errors made during your haste may be permanent and may have to be borne not only by you but by an innocent bystander, or someone you care for, or by someone who is relying on you to do the right thing.