On Tolerance

I’ve had two interesting experiences at the drive thru this last week. On complete opposite ends of the spectrum.  At first, I was at a drive through waiting in a line of cars to order a salad.  There were a few folks in front of me, but not too long a line.  But before I could take my foot off the brake and move up to the order window, someone who was not in line quickly pulled in front of me -- out of nowhere -- and ordered.

Now you might dismiss this as yet another day in central Florida.  Or think that the correct response should be to get angry or be upset.  And that’s human nature, right?  Someone cuts in front of you in line and it’s not fair. So you get angry.  

And you demand justice!

But the ability to fight our human nature is what makes us so unique among all animals.  Other animals cannot make that choice.  Only we can.  And it is a source of immense value once you learn how to harness its power.

Any proper study of the Creator Mindset mandates creativity.  And creativity cannot come from a preordained view of the world.  In other words, you need tolerance. Tolerance will give you the ability – no matter what the situation – to solve problems creatively.

There is no Creative Mindset unless one fights their human nature.

In this case cutting in line is just not fair.  Human nature pulls us toward anger or frustration or some other form of retribution. Why should that guy get to go first while I was waiting?  I was playing by the rules.  That guy wasn’t.  So he deserves to be punished.  

Creativity forces us to view things just as they are.  Not by interpreting things as happening specifically to you.  There is nothing personal going on here per se.  That guy would have cut me off just as soon as he would cut you off. So why do we view these things as happening to us?  Personally affecting us? 

It is in this internal fight – between nature and nurture -- that the Creator Mindset offers its most profound influence.  It helps us think about tolerance.  What would drive this person to do this?   Was the person in a hurry?  Bad mood? Or just plain mean?  Is it because that person is going through something or carrying a heavy load?

Now I am no saint. And the response to fight the incredible gravity of your instincts takes a lot of effort.  It’s a tall order as it’s far easier to be angry or upset.  To cave into our instinct.  It’s what we have been doing our whole lives.

But we can all use a bit more tolerance these days.  Patience has seemed to wear thin no matter where I look.  There seems a race to demonize the other side.  Or act expressly with feelings.  Especially in politics.  These feelings are easily part and parcel to human nature.  And to the Creator Mindset represent a retrograde in human development.  A slide back into the darkest days of humanity.  A regression into a less developed, less thoughtful and perhaps most importantly a less creative human experience.

So back to my drive thru story.  The same week I was in another drive thru picking up coffee.  As I pulled up to the window to pay, the cashier told me that the car in front of me had paid for my order.  Wow I thought.  That’s never happened to me before.  I was half expecting someone to cut me off in line again. Surprised, I asked the cashier why they had paid for me.  The gentleman told me that they were just being nice.  Pay it forward he said.  So I did. I paid for the guy in back of me.

So is this yet another day in central Florida?  Should the correct response here had been to get doubtful or pessimistic?  After all, who pays for a stranger?  What do they want?  Again, tolerance helps us understand motives – or at least helps tolerate them.  And fighting human nature is a long and worthwhile road.  Not one of instant gratification but of a long sequence of events that when added up unleash the true power of the creative mind.