Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Slowing Down



I missed the start of the work week yesterday to a root canal, but last Monday was one of those mornings when everyone seemed to be struggling. It was a real Monday Rush hour with lots of unhappy faces and visible frustration. The MTA ticket machines seemed particularly unforgiving.

The woman in front of me at the ticket machine could not get the machine to issue her a ticket no matter what she tried. She finally went off in a huff and though she made me wait and added to my Monday anxiety, I felt real sympathy.

It seems when you are in a rush, everything that can go wrong will go wrong. "Haste makes waste." I know for myself when I'm rushing every possible obstacle seems to surface. When I'm struggling to find my glasses or metro card and stuff starts flying out of my purse, sometimes I wisely remember to slow down before things really spiral out of control.

This month I'm taking a "slow and steady wins the race" approach. I'm going to try and take deep breaths when things get crazy and most of all explore the power of slow. Here's to all things slow.

3 comments:

Belle said...

Walmart is a place that teaches me patience. Crowded aisles, tons of people and then waiting in line. I talk to myself too about taking it easy - not getting upset. It never helps to let those impatient thoughts take over.
Good post.

jane said...

Thanks and I agree stores are a great place to practice patience and remember to be nice too. It's so easy for people to snap especially around the holidays when the stores are crazy. It's funny how we all put ourselves through such stress when we should be unwinding.

Anonymous said...

There is true power in slow. I find that slow is faster and fast is merely exhausting! In fact, I've based my time consulting on the principles in my book, aptly named The Power of Slow. I'd welcome your interest!