Rushing Forward

 

We all do it....going, going, going.  never. stopping.  until we collapse into bed at night and start it all over the next day.   I can speak directly to this because I also have this tendency.  The days can frequently feel so full that I jump out of bed on full blast, charging through everything I think I need to get done.  Then, the moment happens where I feel like I am struggling for air.  It will dawn on me-I haven't stopped to take a breath.  Our culture teaches us to do this:  To fill up every minute of every day with work and other people and good intentions and this and that.  We all react in our various extremes with some of us choosing the all-too-lethargic path and some of us multi-tasking our way through every moment.  For those of us who kick it into overdrive, STOP!  Just for a little bit...sit down.  catch your breath.  without the computer or tv in front of you.  just you and your thoughts and your breath.  I've found pausing to be helpful, especially when my days seem particularly busy.  It reminds me to actually live my life rather than rushing through it.  

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves-slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment.  Only this moment is life." –Thich Nhat Hanh