Those with disabilities can often teach those of us without physical impairments lessons about slowing down and not taking life for granted. This thought occurred to me as I was shopping at my local grocery store a couple of days ago. A team leader from a local disabilities charity was bringing a group of disabled adults through the store. Five adults with impairments pushed their carts quietly as they carefully checked their shopping lists.

I marveled at how involved the participants with disabilities became in their task, and how much they enjoyed it. In an effort to veer around the group with my cart, I accidentally tapped a customer's cart in the crowded freezer section. The woman, who did not have disabilities, looked at me with an annoyed look on her face as if to non-verbally say: "Why don't you watch where you are going?"

Meanwhile the coordinator leading the adults with disabilities witnessing "the sneer" apologized to me for possibly causing a problem. I told her not to worry about it, and then a few in her group looked up at me and smiled. I left thinking about the way I sometimes rush through my ordinary tasks in life, forgetting how I take my ability to "get things done" for granted. The more I get done the seemingly faster I go, frequently forgetting that sometimes it's just nice to be out there doing those ordinary jobs. I now have an intention of slowing down and smiling a little more while I am out there in the world.

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