Slowing down
Take a lesson from the Captiva tortoise, who lives on island time. January 2013
“…in a day when doing something as soon as possible is the standard response to perceived problems, slowing down may be the best way to move ahead.” — Mark A. Noll
Sometimes, action is urgently needed and haste is imperative. However, I suspect that most of the urgency we feel about everyday stresses and conflicts is unnecessary, even unwise.
There was a time, not so long ago, when few people other than physicians on emergency call wore beepers. And just a couple of decades before that, even physicians were not available at the touch of a few buttons. Now everybody is on call, all the time, to whomever has their cell phone number. How did life become so frantic?
In his illuminating book Traffic, Tom Vanderbilt speculates that the few minutes saved by chronic lane-changers will most likely take more time than that off the end of the hectic, rushed life. The same could be said about many other forms of rushing around. At some point, perhaps we should stop to ask what we are gaining by putting so much pressure on ourselves.
I’m not saying that deadlines don’t matter (in fact, I’m dealing with several big ones related to school, as I take a few minutes to write this). I’m only admitting that I almost never help myself when I try to go too quickly. Maybe it’s because the weather has finally turned hot, or maybe it’s age or exhaustion. But more and more, I find myself simply unable to speed through life.
That’s a good thing, I think. I like to take my time and enjoy the view. How about you? Take a few minutes to send me a description of some everyday sight you might not notice if you were hurrying to somewhere else. I’ll keep the tea warm for us to share. On second thought, maybe iced would be better about now?
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: contemplation, frantic, haste, mindfulness, pace, problem-solving, relaxation, rush, serenity, slow
Defeat Despair 
Reminds me of the song by Alabama..”I’m in a hurry and don’t know why” .
I don’t know that song, but I think it describes many of us. Maybe most of us. Along those same lines, I think of the old song “Time for Living” by the Association– the line that says “I took off my watch, and found I had all the time in the world.” How very 1960’s– today it would be “I turned off my phone…”
Julia,
Published seven years ago and has anyone learned anything. We have new technology that requires more of our already limited time. It is our responsibility to decide to say “NO”! We have the power to change a news channel rather than curse at a TV anchor who has no idea who we are even if we are alive. But we know we are alive because of the angst we put upon ourselves. So, it is with the faster and faster pace of life which won’t slow down unless our collective springs snap. So, it is incumbent upon us to follow the advice of the Japanese, “Take an emergency leisurely”. For a frantic act is preceded by a heated mind. And no good can ever come of that. Especially at the cost of the wasted joys of each day.
-Alan
Alan, this is all SO TRUE and I’m learning it more with every year that passes. I have often, in my own mind, likened my life in the past 11 years (since Jeff’s terminal diagnosis) as a lovely ship from which I’m having to jettison more and more cargo. Most of what had to go overboard in the earlier years was not crucial and rarely missed, but now I’m down to bare minimums, and really miss the things I’ve had to give up…most crucially right now, my correspondence with faraway friends. I am hanging on to the hope that one day I’ll have time for it again…