I was driving home from work the other day, weaving in and out of traffic, getting frustrated that the last half mile of my commute was going to take more than 3 minutes.  Ughh…these idiots in front of me…don’t they understand I need to be somewhere?  So I cut off several people to get over so I could take the side roads.  One guy honked and gave me a friendly gesture…yes, I know that I’m Number One…thanks for reminding me.  I gave him a nice friendly honk in return.

So I turned onto the side roads, and that’s when I saw the sign (…and it opend up my eyes I saw the sign…) –  Caution: Slow Children Playing.  My immediate reaction was to laugh…there’s just something funny about the image of slow children playing out in the road.  Evil, politically uncorrect, I know.  Just how my mind works sometimes.  But the sign did get me thinking about how stressed I was to be rushing home through backroads to save a fraction of a minute in my car…like I’m in a race against time.  And why?  Because I’m an American and a Jerseyan at heart.

Fast food.  Fast cars.  Fast money.  Instant Coffee.  Instant Messages.  Instant Satisfaction.  Americans…we want it fast, we want it now.  Webpage not loading fast enough?  Get a faster connection.  Taking too long to get from point A to point B?  Get a faster car.  Walk faster, work faster, eat faster, live faster, sleep faster…I’m even trying to type this post faster.  I just read a book called “In Praise of Slowness”…over 400 pages…I finished it in 3 days…can’t even slow down to read a book on slowness.   Why are we so obsessed?

When’s the last time you took some time to slow down, breathe a little, and really enjoy the simple things around you?   When’s the last time you didn’t run from your car to your front door, so you could take a minute a look at the stars?  So what that it’s 20 degrees out…man up…winter’s the only time you get to see Orion and the Dippers (no, that’s not the name of a funky 70’s band).  When’s the last time you climbed a tree…and no, not to look into someone’s window stalker…actually climb a tree, sit in the branches, and enjoy the warmth of a summer day, the sound of the breeze through the leaves, the smell of a BBQ nearby.  How about the last time you curled up with a good book next to a sunny window, just lost in a fantasy world for hours on end?

Whatever it is that’s your simple pleasure…whether it be running, reading, hiking, painting, playing music, baking cake, whatever…take some time for it.  Be more like that child you used to be…who understood that playing, especially at a slow place, was much more important than working…that enjoying life and all that it has to offer is much more important than meeting deadlines and making that quick buck.  So this week, take some time and and be that slow child playing.  Caution:  You might just enjoy going slow.

-  Just Call Me Lungs