.....unhurrying

Yogis,
Phoebe and I have been on the road together. Four days at the beach and then loading the car again we headed north to spend time with my parents. I enjoy traveling routes I don’t typically take so I chose to drive up Route 1 in silence. I didn't want to be distracted by words or music. I wanted to notice.

It was a gray day with occasional spits of rain yet the yellow of the cleared farmlands and the occasional vivid red tree framed by my windshield were magnificent. A hawk perched on an overhead wire peered down as I drove underneath and I noted the names of the small local stores as I passed by.

This is a four lane road divided by a large grassy median which makes for comfortable driving. The speed limit is 60 and I was going my typical five to 10 mph over although it would be easy to go much faster as many others were doing. Don’t we all view speed limits as the minimum?

Up ahead I saw one of those electric signs held up with orange poles that can be programmed to display alerts. It was the kind you typically see before construction, but there was no construction in sight. As I got closer, I could read its message.

‘Ya’ll need to relax. You will get there,’ it said. You have to love Delaware.

I realized what a wonderful message it was. It stuck in my mind as I continued my journey. We do need to relax. Why are we in such a hurry? Why is it that we feel the need to go faster than the posted speed? To live life at breakneck speed.

It seems no matter how quickly we do things these days, there is a desire to do them faster. Cell phones as an example….5G is being installed across the country to give us more speed. Do I actually need more speed? In fact almost all new technology is developed to help us get things done quicker.

But where exactly is it that we are going? What is our hurry?

I catch myself rushing around while cleaning up. Carrying too many things down the steps so I don’t have to go back up. Wanting to get in and out of the grocery store and being annoyed if there is a line. If a web page takes longer to load, the toe starts tapping. Faster movement, faster breath, faster mind. And we wonder why we are all anxious.

We are taught this at a young age. Remember being rushed or rushing your own children each morning? Hurry up and eat! Hurry up and dress! Hurry up…..hurry up….hurry up……when as children our instinct is to dawdle. To be and enjoy the space we are occupying at that moment. No time for that!

In a thoughtful book I am reading the author speaks to a need for humans to unlearn hurrying. Slowing down as a path toward reconnection and inner peace.  Could we do that, and will the world even let us?

I took the road message to heart and spent the next three hours of my drive sitting back, shoulders relaxed, not concerned with my arrival time. I would get there when I got there, and the drive felt carefree. I arrived refreshed and ready to enjoy family. The sign was right. I did get there.

Catch yourself the next time you are hurrying. Notice, take a big conscious exhale and see what happens if you slow down. Life does indeed wait.

Slowing life down to enjoy the ride,
SARAH