I always feel like I have a million things to do and they need to all be done NOW! I'm running in six directions at once - listening, talking, making lunch while I know the dryer's done and if I don't get the laundry folded in the next two minutes - but the girls need help getting their shoes off, and are freaking out, then the phone rings. I'm never going to get to that project I wanted to do today. Run! Run! Faster! Faster!You know what? I concede the race. I can't win, so I give up. And today I tried to intentionally move a little slower all day, doing everything. I stepped on every step going down the stairs. I put one thing away at a time, after breakfast, slowly. As I consciously chewed my food at lunch it occurred to me I must swallow my food whole half the time. I think I got as much done, but was hopefully a little less tightly wound. I felt a bit more at ease.
There's an exercise - we did it in drama in school, but I've heard of it in a spiritual discipline/experiencing life kind of way - where you intentionally walk somewhere as slow as you possibly can. I mean if you could walk any slower, you're going too fast. It does weird things to your psyche. At first it's aggravating (Ahhh! This is taking for ever! It's a waist of time!), then it's interesting, calming and usually ends up being energizing.
I think I'll try it again one day. If I get time.
1 comment:
I know what you mean! I've been here almost a whole year in a place where time does not equal money and everyone moves much slower than they do at home, but I STILL struggle! I still get frustrated and want people to move faster, to walk faster, and I also, sometimes, still swallow my food without chewing it. Guh! And I've also done the everything slower experiment. It's infuriating! ;) But I'm gonna keep trying.
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