I go hiking to clear my head. Among the trees and trails, there’s not much calculated thinking happening when I’m forced to concentrate on getting air into and out of my lungs with enough regularity that I don’t pass out.
Plus, something amazing happens during or shortly after a stout hike: I have an epiphany. I understand something I didn’t understand before. Or I see a connection I’ve never seen.
This happens almost without fail.
The trouble is, I have to remember to make time to go out hiking. To slow down.
And this world we live in is incredibly fast-paced, isn’t it?
Instant messaging, one-click ordering, streaming, short articles, pay with your phone, “click to accept terms” (no reading all that lawyer-speak required), one-minute How-To videos, 10-second sound bites, news tickers above and below all the talk, and more.
It’s exciting, isn’t it? Read it all, see it all, have it all, do it all, be it all, know it all, eat it all, do, do, do, go, go, go.
MORE! FASTER!
Except in this fast-paced world, I don’t believe more is better. I believe more can be stressful, confusing, and overwhelming.
I prefer the opposite approach:
• Create and commit to time to read books
• Scheduling time to play and do art
• Spending two full hours with clients in deep conversation
• Sitting by a river just watching the water rush by
• Limited TV watching
• Watching my garden grow from tiny seeds into full blown food
See, I think our fast-paced world is keeping us stupid, numb, and kind of dull.
I really, honestly do.
You’re so busy doing that you forget who you are being.
You’re so busy achieving that you forget what you’ve already got.
You’re so busy consuming you don’t even recognize you’re already full.
What would happen, gentle reader, if you slowed down?
Better yet, what would happen if you stopped for awhile?