Last week I was staying over at a friend with a broken arm. In the afternoon, she asked me if I could bring her bicycle into the garage. I said yes, to which she added:
“No rush”
We talked some more, about what I wanted for my birthday. I hadn’t thought about it and she said:
“Let me know when you figured out what you want for your birthday.”
The afternoon passed, the evening passed and when I was already laying in bed in the guestroom, I heard her say something about the bicycle not being in the garage.
I smiled and jumped out of bed. Walked outside, got the bicycle and put it in the garage.
When I got back I said:
“Now, I know what I want for my birthday: that you replace “no rush” or “no need” with what it is that you DO want.”
We both laughed and the next afternoon she even gave me the present, when she saw me cleaning the doormat. She said:
“No nee…uhm…thank you for cleaning!”
I smiled and got off to a restaurant where I was going to do some work. It was a hot day so I decided to get a cold 0% beer. The person behind the bar asked me if I wanted a glass with my bottle of beer. I replied:
“No nee…uhm…no thank you, I actually really love drinking out of the bottle, feels so fresh.”
The person behind the bar smiled and said: “Oh, yeah, I like it that way as well.” And we had a small and lively conversation.
The next day I wanted to treat myself to a sandwich in a small deli. When I showed my debit card, the man behind the counter asked:
“Do you also have cash?”
I looked at him.
He explainded: “Otherwise there’s a 0,30 cent surcharge, because the amount is so small.”
I said I didn’t have cash and add: “It’s no probl…uhm…I’d love to give you those 30 cents,” and smiled.
He smiled as well and replied:
“Then I’ll add some love to your sandwich.”
What I take away from these three encounters is that I get a smile and a little bit of love, each time I replace no need, no rush, or no problem, with what it is that I DO want 🙂
Photo by Collin Key Creative Commons-attribution-nonommercial-sharealike