Quick quick quick

Rushing around we try to get from point A to B then to C in fast order. We eat quickly, we think quickly, we do things quickly and speak too quickly. All we are really doing is hurtling quickly to our eventual demise without living. We think we are living,  but in fact we are just running to nowhere quickly, as if running on a treadmill without anywhere to go.  On the spot running is good if you are trying to lose weight and exercise in other words, with a purpose, but not if you are being chased. What are we bing chased by, you might wonder? Time. However if you sharply stop and turn around and face your adversary you might actually become the victor and not the victim. Make Time your friend, and your friend ,time will become. Being and not just doing becomes a state of mind and matter, and you then start to live.

Quick, quick, quick… you might miss out on a really tasty savory gourmet meal as you wolf down your specially prepared meal at your local restaurant.

Quick, quick, quick… you might miss the opportunity to help a poor homeless person on the street as you look the other way rushing to your destination.

Quick, quick, quick … you might miss the blooming of the beautiful tulips that will not come back for another year and only bloom for a few weeks in the year as you keep looking at your smart phone.

Quick, quick, quick… you might miss your child or grandchild being young and playful as  you are too busy doing chores.

Quick, quick, quick,, you miss out on a real bargain on a quality purchase at a store as you race for the advertised sale on cheaper items.

Quick, quick,quick… you might miss out on the breathtaking sunsets as you try to find parking as you go out for dinner to a restaurant.

Quick, quick, quick you might miss out the tone and subtly in a conversation with your friend trying to tell you about  a fateful thing that had happened to them, as you rush through to get to your talking turn and agenda of speech.

Quick quick quick… you might miss out on learning anything from that book as you speed read through the chapters.

Quick, quick, quick.. you might miss the red traffic light as you are too busy texting or talking to someone on the phone while driving and not concentrating on the road.

Quick, quick, quick.. you might miss out on your entire life, as you are not mindful of your surroundings.

All too often this plague of “quick, quick, quick” infiltrates our mind, and body and consciousness and then your new set point for your life begins at 200mph.  It is time to slow down and feel the moment. Meditation on a routine basis helps with that, such that it becomes your normal state of thought, speech and action. Time is on your side, but only depends on whether you accept the abundance of it and walk with time beside you as your friend, or not as your adversary that is chasing you. On the former you will have the abundance to live, and in the latter the scarcity to die. Look at your own internal clock and then look around you.

When people say statements of fact like ” things have changed so much” or “kids grow up so fast” or “time and tide wait for no man.” These are maybe relatively true, but at which point of reference are we speaking about matters. The flowering plant, or child or entire cities that change, do not change in an instant or at the snapping of your fingers. It takes time for change to occur. The only reason why it feels like the passage of time was an instant, is because you were not mindful and so missed it. You awake from your dream-like state of chaos and “living quickly” and you have zipped way past any coherent sense of orientation of time and space. There is no reason to keep hurrying unless you have a big S on your chest, wearing blue tights,a red cape and saving the planet. Quick, quick, quickly  hurry up and slow down before it is too late for you to enjoy the moment that may ironically lead to the eventual opportunity that you would have missed to lead a happier, healthier and peaceful life.

Spend some “time” to really feel the passage of time. This is a very satisfying practice, and then you can say that you have truly ” lived”. Seeing the development and the changes of your city, or garden, or the growth of your child are worthwhile gestures to undertake for sure, but the evolution of yourSelf in your own body is a feat unto itself. Your soul or spirit or Self is immortal, and you are inside this mortal ever changing body as you jump from minute to minute, day to day, year to year, decade to decade. You are in fact “body jumping. ” Leap frogging in time is basically what we are doing. I would propose that we walk into and  through the moments and while you are at it simply enjoy the walk !

What is your speed limit today?