You Can’t Make this Stuff Up
My life is a comedy show. I’ve been having some stomach issues ever since my 2nd child was born and the doctor prescribed me a new medication that he wanted me to start taking immediately. So, as soon as I got that CVS text message that my prescription was ready, I headed straight to the pharmacy to pick it up. Of course, it was in the middle of the day so I was on work calls as I was driving, but I figured that I would multitask. I put my Bluetooth on and headed out to pick up the medication excited for some potential relief in body.

When I pulled up to CVS the drive through pharmacy was packed. There was only one line and it seemed to go on forever. The old version of me would have immediately tensed up when I saw the line but the new me was calm, cool, and collected. “I can’t control the line, but I can control my attitude in it,” I said softly to myself. I finished up the work call that I was on, put on a new podcast episode that I was excited to listen to and waited patiently feeling quite proud of myself for staying so calm.
After about 30 minutes of waiting I got close enough to the front of the line to see that there wree actually 2 lines in the drive through. One line was for people wanting to get CoVid testing and one for people picking up prescriptions. “Yes, shortcut,” I cheered in my head as I pulled up to the “prescription only” line. The prescription line was the second line so it was further away from the store and the pharmacist was super hard to hear on the speaker so I pulled my car as close as possible to the intercom. “I’m here to pick up a prescription,” I said cheerfully. She instructed me to put my debit card in the “chute” which sends documents back and forth from the main store out to the customers. After a few minutes she sent my medicine, receipt, and documents back through the chute. “Perfect,” I thought to myself, “that wasn’t so bad.” I mentally applauded myself for keeping my cool in the long line. Little did I know………
As I opened the chute to grab my items the medicine and debit card went sailing out of the chute onto the road beneath me. Because I had pulled me car up so close to the intercom I couldn’t bend down to grab the items from beneath so they were stuck. At that point I decided that the best strategy was to inch my car up just a bit and then get back out and grab them. The problem with this decision was that there was a large brick column just past the intercom so I had to pull my car up really far to get past the column. As I inched forward I heard a loud CRUNNNCH underneath my tire. I had somehow managed to run over the medicine and my debit card. I ran out of the car to survey the scene in my house slippers and a sweatshirt in 90 degree weather. (Side note: my house was freezing and I did not anticipate having to leave my car so at the time my wardrobe choice felt validated!) I frantically tried to scoop the medicine off the ground but the pills were so small it was useless. As I stood up in my winter wardrobe during the hottest day of week, I noticed that the couple in the car next to me laughing hysterically. I then held up my broken bottle to try to show the pharmacist from across 2 lanes of cars what happened and I realized that she also was laughing hysterically. At that moment, I realized I had two choices: I could either laugh or cry. I chose the laughter.
You see, laughter really is the best medicine (pun intended). My inner demons berating myself and crying would not have fixed anything with the current situation at hand. I truly believe that the best way forward is with positivity and at that moment laughter got me in that much needed space. After a few minutes the pharmacist hopped on the intercom and sent me a new bottle through the chute and thanked me for giving everyone some much needed comedic relief. I smiled, “I do my best,” I said and then shared one final laugh with her and headed on my way. Laughter really is best when it’s shared.
As I drove off I felt this incredible pride come over me. Ten years ago something like this would have mortified me and sent me into a dark spiral. Now, this is a moment I can look at with laughter and perspective. Perspective changes everything. What one person looks at as a curse, someone else looks at as a blessing. What someone thinks is a mistake and flaw, someone else views as a place to grow. Your perspective can easily change a situation from bad to good (and vice versa!) in a split second and your job as a leader is to bring a perspective of positivity, grace, love, and compassion.
Here’s how:
The next time something that you perceive “bad” happens to you ask yourself these questions:
- Will this matter in 5 years?
- Does this change the person that I am trying to become?
- What good can I learn from this situation?
- Who can I help through my mistake?
Once you work your way through these questions you gain clarity and get to the point of realizing it’s probably not that big of a deal. Perspective can solve so many of our problems. It helps us look at things from someone else’s perspective and creates empathy. It helps us take view things from a different vantage point. This helps to diffuse stressful situations and gives us a sense of appreciation for the gray in life. Rather than continuing viewing things as right or wrong, we start to realize that what we really need is empathy, understanding, and compassion.
Having the right perspective can help you turn your day around and someone else’s too. This week, when something “bad” happens to you take a deep breath, laugh, smile, and then knock it straight on its back and go make some lemonade out of that bad lemon. It really is the best medicine.
When I pulled up to CVS the drive through pharmacy was packed. There was only one line and it seemed to go on forever. The old version of me would have immediately tensed up when I saw the line but the new me was calm, cool, and collected. “I can’t control the line, but I can control my attitude in it,” I said softly to myself. I finished up the work call that I was on, put on a new podcast episode that I was excited to listen to and waited patiently feeling quite proud of myself for staying so calm.
After about 30 minutes of waiting I got close enough to the front of the line to see that there wree actually 2 lines in the drive through. One line was for people wanting to get CoVid testing and one for people picking up prescriptions. “Yes, shortcut,” I cheered in my head as I pulled up to the “prescription only” line. The prescription line was the second line so it was further away from the store and the pharmacist was super hard to hear on the speaker so I pulled my car as close as possible to the intercom. “I’m here to pick up a prescription,” I said cheerfully. She instructed me to put my debit card in the “chute” which sends documents back and forth from the main store out to the customers. After a few minutes she sent my medicine, receipt, and documents back through the chute. “Perfect,” I thought to myself, “that wasn’t so bad.” I mentally applauded myself for keeping my cool in the long line. Little did I know………
As I opened the chute to grab my items the medicine and debit card went sailing out of the chute onto the road beneath me. Because I had pulled me car up so close to the intercom I couldn’t bend down to grab the items from beneath so they were stuck. At that point I decided that the best strategy was to inch my car up just a bit and then get back out and grab them. The problem with this decision was that there was a large brick column just past the intercom so I had to pull my car up really far to get past the column. As I inched forward I heard a loud CRUNNNCH underneath my tire. I had somehow managed to run over the medicine and my debit card. I ran out of the car to survey the scene in my house slippers and a sweatshirt in 90 degree weather. (Side note: my house was freezing and I did not anticipate having to leave my car so at the time my wardrobe choice felt validated!) I frantically tried to scoop the medicine off the ground but the pills were so small it was useless. As I stood up in my winter wardrobe during the hottest day of week, I noticed that the couple in the car next to me laughing hysterically. I then held up my broken bottle to try to show the pharmacist from across 2 lanes of cars what happened and I realized that she also was laughing hysterically. At that moment, I realized I had two choices: I could either laugh or cry. I chose the laughter.
You see, laughter really is the best medicine (pun intended). My inner demons berating myself and crying would not have fixed anything with the current situation at hand. I truly believe that the best way forward is with positivity and at that moment laughter got me in that much needed space. After a few minutes the pharmacist hopped on the intercom and sent me a new bottle through the chute and thanked me for giving everyone some much needed comedic relief. I smiled, “I do my best,” I said and then shared one final laugh with her and headed on my way. Laughter really is best when it’s shared.

As I drove off I felt this incredible pride come over me. Ten years ago something like this would have mortified me and sent me into a dark spiral. Now, this is a moment I can look at with laughter and perspective. Perspective changes everything. What one person looks at as a curse, someone else looks at as a blessing. What someone thinks is a mistake and flaw, someone else views as a place to grow. Your perspective can easily change a situation from bad to good (and vice versa!) in a split second and your job as a leader is to bring a perspective of positivity, grace, love, and compassion.
Here’s how:
The next time something that you perceive “bad” happens to you ask yourself these questions:
- Will this matter in 5 years?
- Does this change the person that I am trying to become?
- What good can I learn from this situation?
- Who can I help through my mistake?
Once you work your way through these questions you gain clarity and get to the point of realizing it’s probably not that big of a deal. Perspective can solve so many of our problems. It helps us look at things from someone else’s perspective and creates empathy. It helps us take view things from a different vantage point. This helps to diffuse stressful situations and gives us a sense of appreciation for the gray in life. Rather than continuing viewing things as right or wrong, we start to realize that what we really need is empathy, understanding, and compassion.
Having the right perspective can help you turn your day around and someone else’s too. This week, when something “bad” happens to you take a deep breath, laugh, smile, and then knock it straight on its back and go make some lemonade out of that bad lemon. It really is the best medicine.
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