Life Speed: Fast and Slow

Most of us live at dual life speed: fast and slow. Some things we want or need to hurry through. Other activities invite us to linger and enjoy. Of course, those are not the same fast items or slow choices for all of us. To each her or his own, for certain.

There are some things we do both fast and slow, depending upon our want. Some days I head out to see the neighborhood via a morning run. Other days it’s in the evening that I check things out with a more leisurely stroll. There are those at-home fast food meals: a grilled cheese sandwich or an omelet. Then there are the ones we linger over with careful attention to the recipes, the stirring, the anticipating.

Life Speed?

Simon & Garfunkel’s encouragement to “slow down; you move too fast” is good advice at times. I Googled “living life fast or slow”. Every one of the top 10 returns recommended ways to slow down. Here are three gave good reasons.

At other times, we may even tell ourselves to pick it up, get a move on, to rev up our life speed. Life sometimes demand that we get things done faster, but it can be more important that we desire to step up the pace. Sometimes it feels better to run than to walk, figuratively speaking. True, Google doesn’t turn up as many sources encouraging living faster, but these two are interesting:

Now, here’s my consolidated belief. The ideal is the healthy blend of fast and slow. We need — our bodies, our minds, our spirit need — variety. How exciting it can be to pick up the pace and to energize myself by deciding to work full out on this or that project for 30 minutes non-stop. And then how soothing it is to treat myself to a break from what’s rapid-fire and ease back to let my being breathe. I believe it’s better to mix it up, to live at different speeds to satisfy our being’s need for breaks from what may be routine.

Interesting that Googling for information about such variety turned up the fewest choices:

Praying at Every Speed

Sweet Speed Spirit,
as we may choose life speed fast
and life speed slow,
the speed at which we converse with you
is of no matter.
The joy and grace are not that it is fast
or slow, merely that it is.
However, we love that a prayer is welcome
whether offered lickety-split
or with lengthy consideration,
at a moment’s notice or with hours’ engagement.
We honor our being’s choices
to live fast or slow.
We embrace our freedom to choose praying
in the very same ways.
And so it is. And so we thank you. Amen.

Love and blessings,
Tim
15 June 2017

Posted on June 15, 2017 at 2:16 pm by Tim · Permalink
In: Energy, Happiness, Life, Prayer, Zeal · Tagged with: , ,