Slow Down! Get There Fast! Part I
My wife, Jaime, and I were living in New York City some twenty years ago. We were both working in very high pressure jobs in Manhattan. I was in book publishing and she was in insurance.
As well, we had a two hour commute back and forth to work every day. So, by the time we got home we were exhausted from all the stimulation. There was always something to "do" and it always had to be done fast! So, life was a series of unending tasks that seemed to just exponentially explode on us. It wasn't fun to say the least.
So, one day while we were taking stock of all we had to do, my wife, in total frustration, screamed out: "Slow Down! Get There Fast!"
It made us both stop in our tracks and first, laugh, but most importantly, it helped us to realize that we were like hamsters spinning around on a treadmill in a cage. We were going nowhere fast!
So, we asked, "Why are we doing this?" And we realized that we were unconscious. We were just doing more and more just for the sake of doing more and more in the hope that it would make us feel better about ourselves. But it certainly wasn't helping!
So, at that point we recognized that we had to incorporate a conscious, consistent spiritual practice into our lives; that is, we needed to create a time of slowing down. We had been doing numerous spiritual practices for years on a haphazard basis, but it wasn't enough obviously.
So, we then decided to sit and meditate and/or pray for at least thirty minutes an evening. It was so refreshing and relaxing. And most importantly, it helped us reach our goal of feeling good about ourselves very quickly; and we no longer had to run around mindlessly exhausting ourselves to reach our goal!
By slowing down, we got to our goal of feeling good about ourselves very, very fast. The other way of going about it, by running around all over the place, was actually moving us further and further away from our goal.
So, no matter what your goal is: "Slow Down! Get there Fast!" It works wonders!
In my next blog entry of March 2, I will continue this theme and explain how this process of slowing down helped me to find my purpose in life and live my passion.