What's Your
Rush?
“Nature
does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
Lao Tzu
Liza rushed me out of bed
this morning. I had managed to sleep past five, and she was not well
for it. The sound of her toe-nails clicking on the wood floor and small,
excited woofs issuing from her mouth, finally gouged me up from
sleep. Needless to say, I was not amused. She is a dog of great
regularity, and I swear, she has a pocket watch on her somewhere. I
don't like being rushed—I don't think anyone does.
And yet, we are a people
obsessed with time. And now, not only time, but the number of beats
of our hearts, the number of steps we take, the number of hours
and minutes of deep sleep, and so on. We clock everything on our
fit-bits and monitor it moment to moment for signs of failing or
improving health. We are so preoccupied
with every tick and step that we obsessively check our gadgets for
updates. That is not only inefficient, it is distracting.
Rushing through life
means we miss half of what is before us. We get to the end of our
days with few memories except for the number of times we went to the
gym per week and how long we were able to run on a treadmill. That is
not a life! Appreciating life requires that we slow down enough to
encounter the unexpected, experience the unusual, and interact with
the unknown. When we are living and not simply rushing, we notice
details. Like right now, for instance, two squirrels are running at
full speed and flinging themselves from branch to branch in the very
top of the tremendous oak in my neighbor's backyard. Such gymnastics
would impress an Olympic athlete, but I would have missed them had I
not taken a moment away from what I was doing to watch. Mary Oliver
describes this as being “idle and blessed.”
One day this week, I was
in such a hurry to get to the Post Office with my shipping before the
rain came, that I rushed out with two mail baskets filled to
overflowing, but not my purse. I locked myself out of the house, and out of the car. I had to call one of my sons who lives way across town to come and let
me in. By the time he came, I was wet, boiling hot and covered with
mosquito bites. It was a wake-up call reminding me that it never pays
to get in a hurry.
Today, take a little
time, slow down and appreciate the life around you. Count your
blessings, notice the changing season, and be idle and blessed.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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