Slow Down. You Move Too Fast.

 

“To be happy? — we must be kind. To be wise? — we must look and think. No changing of place at a hundred miles an hour will make us one whit stronger, or happier, or wiser. There was always more in the world than man could see, walked they ever so slowly; they will see it no better for going fast. The really precious things are thought and sight, not pace. It does a bullet no good to go fast; and a man, if he be truly a man, no harm to go slow; for his glory is not at all in going, but in being.”  – John Ruskin

I’ve been cranking life into a lower gear lately. Sometimes, it feels like I’m going so slow that there’s not enough momentum to keep me from tipping right over…and so I nap. Or meditate. Or read a book. Or just hang in the moment.

I am practising the art of not always being productive; a very over-rated, over-sold concept that I’ve absorbed, in spite of all my protests to the contrary. I confess:

  • I am a rather compulsive ticker of to-do lists.
  • A keeper of graphs of things-done.
  • A noter of blog-stats and views and metrics and pitches made and articles produced.

These are all good things and I still enjoy that sense of accomplishment that my habits evoke, but I’m trying to be a non-doing person too.

A human being, rather than a human doing.

Today is a steady dripping rainy day on the Not-So-Sunny-Sunshine-Coast. It’s a good day for slowing down. Moving methodically and paying attention to a much more interesting list that is right in front of me;

  • The eagle that is, this very minute, calling out squeaky cries.
  • The gulls counter calls.
  • The smell of the yeast as the bread dough rises on the counter.
  • The steady patter of the rain.
  • The light wash of the waves.
  • The drone of a float plane.
  • Silence.

Take some deep belly breaths. Slow Down. You Move Too Fast.

Sit with your own lovely self and just be. Just for a little while. I promise it’s a good thing.


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8 Responses

  1. Laurie Beeman
    Laurie Beeman at |

    Thanks for the reminder Colleen. I love that song from Simon and Garfunkel!
    I tend to be a doer as well, always thinking of what to organize next, or use my
    time efficiently. I try to make a day on the weekend for rest, usually Sundays.
    The reminder is always a good thing, rest, listen, and honour this very moment!
    oh yes, and breathe!!!

    Reply
  2. barb
    barb at |

    thank you, such needed advice, i am taking it tonight and chilling out doing what i love instead of generating more lists that stress me out.

    Reply
  3. Sharry Miller
    Sharry Miller at |

    I had a sympathetic moment the day before yesterday. I rode my mountain bike instead of my road bike, and it doesn’t have a computer. It took great effort of will to not go nuts over not knowing how fast I was going or how far I’d ridden. Did it matter? No. But I still wanted to know.

    Reply
  4. Becca
    Becca at |

    I do love that song and the advice in it! There is such a frenzy of going and doing in the world – how nice to be encouraged to “make the morning last…”

    Reply

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