“Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed. Let me look upward into the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.” ~Orin L. Crain
I only had twenty minutes to walk this morning. It takes twelve minutes (or eleven on a good day) to make one lap in my neighborhood. A quick math calculation confirmed that I didn’t have time to do two laps, even though I really wanted to.
Knowing my time was limited, I set off on my walk. I didn’t have a firm plan worked out yet regarding my route. I only knew I had to be back home in twenty minutes to catch my breath before hopping on a scheduled phone call.
I decided I could run a few times to make two laps fit in the allotted time. Because of my knees, I can’t run very far, but occasionally, I sprint a little. So yes, maybe sprinting was going to be the answer.
But then I remembered that after I sprint, my knee talks to me, my whole body wonders what the heck just happened (aging is so fun!), and I’m unable to walk as fast as before. It takes my body some time to finds its pre-sprinting rhythm again.
I think I actually lose time when I sprint and then have to walk slower to recover, compared to walking with a swift pace the whole time. The parable about the tortoise versus the hare came to mind.
A slow and steady pace will always win the race, over a fast and chaotic sprint that ends up costing more time. What good is going fast if we have to compensate for it later, and go even slower than normal?
This foundational truth is far-reaching, evidenced not only in my daily walks for exercise and well-being, but also in the daily walk of life.
The truth is, I’m addicted to speed. I had a therapist tell me once that it’s my speed that gets me into trouble. Knowing this about myself for nearly a decade, I’m attempting to embrace the idea that slow-living is better.
I’ve spent my whole life going fast. I’ve been a production machine. Growing up, I often felt like a burden. I sought approval and acceptance through performance.
Now I’m learning that I don’t have to earn the right to be a human being. I was born with that. I was purposed to be here. I was blessed with certain gifts and abilities and so were you.
I hereby cancel the message that some of us learned which says the only way we deserve to be here is if we are producing something of value to someone else. That is a lie. We are valuable. Period. We are a gift in people’s lives just by being who we are, not what we do.
Recovering from life-long beliefs about needing to produce something to prove my worth is challenging, but I’m making slow progress.
Ah, I love the play on words that just happened. I’m making slow progress recovering from the belief that I have to stay incessantly busy to earn my place. And, I’m making progress learning to live slow.
One thing I’m doing to cast that old belief aside is prioritizing my wants and needs first thing in the day. Up until now, I liked to get as many tasks done as early in the day as possible. After a rushed quiet time, I would dive headfirst into my to-do list: personal and work-related calls and emails, laundry, dishes—things I could check off my list in order to feel a sense of accomplishment.
I tended to put my physical and spiritual needs second, and my creative needs were put last of all. As a result, I rarely had time leftover for the things that mattered most to me. I wanted to be creative, but I desperately needed to check the boxes off that proved I had earned my place for another day. Now I’m putting creativity first. Feeding my spirit seems to energize everything else.
Another change I’m implementing is becoming more willing to spend time on things that have no benefit to anyone else but me, like taking a hot bath or spending an hour reading. I used to read a ton and I still acquire books like crazy, but I struggle to let myself sit down long enough to read them. I feel pressure to be doing something more important, but I'm slowly accepting the truth that fun and leisure time are important.
One thing is clear—the production factory must close. The inherent flow of living must resume. The world needs the gifts that are born from our being, not our doing.
What beautiful gifts do you need to bring to life? What old beliefs do you need to kick to the curb? Is there one idea that comes to mind on how you can demonstrate to your soul that you deserve to slow down and just be, that you don’t have to constantly produce to justify your participation in life?
There is power in making a verbal or written declaration and then enlisting supportive accountability to back up your new intentions. Jump on over to the FTG Readers group and let us know how we can support you. Enjoy this day being you!
