What's the Rush?

Clocks.

I've never been too fond of 'em.

In my opinion, clocks are the primary reason for so much unnecessary rushing. Clocks (and calendars) create the need for deadlines, and needing to be in a certain place by a certain time.

Rushing to go here. Rushing to go there. Just rushing.

Don't believe me? Let me ask you this then...what happens when you set your alarm and it doesn't go off? Ever had that happen to you? I have.
You wake up in a state of panic...heart racing...forgetting to do half the things you'd normally do had your clock gone off on time.

When the alarm doesn't go off, you're whole "internal clock" is thrown out of whack.

If you didn't have to wake up by a clock then your body would simply wake up to it's natural rhythm and you could go about your day as you were meant to.

Me, I've just never been one to be ruled by a clock. I don't even wear a watch. I like to go with the flow. Wake up when my body says it's time. Get to where I have to go in the time that it takes me to get there. After all...what's the rush?

Yet everywhere I go, people around me are rushing.

I watch cars on the freeway swerve in and out of lanes just to get ONE car ahead of where they were. Doesn't make much sense to me.

I watch drivers illegally enter the carpool lane because they are too impatient to wait for the lane to open up where they may enter legally. Doesn't make much sense to me. Is it worth the ticket when you get caught?

I listen to people complain in lines at the grocery store (or any other store) when there aren't enough registers open. I mean people get really nasty if they have to wait in line for more than two minutes. They start talking negatively about the store and about the cashiers and I just think to myself, "If you think the store sucks that badly, then WHY are you shopping here"? I just don't get it.

And then there are the cashiers who rush me at EVERY store that offers a savings card. Before they even say hello, they ask for my "club card". Time and time again I tell them that I have it and will swipe it once I find it. This drives them nuts.

Tonight's cashier was truly about to crawl out of his skin because I was taking waaay too long for his liking. He starts with asking for my card. I couldn't find it so I started shuffling through the zillions of savings cards that I keep in my wallet. Couldn't find it on the first go round. So I started over. While I'm looking he's firing a series of questions at me...anything to get my info keyed into the computer so that we could move forward. None of my answers were sufficient for him though and I kept telling him to just be patient and I'd find it. He wasn't hearing that.

So guess what I did. I slowed down my search even more...on purpose this time. I wanted to teach him a lesson. He was going to slow down, even if it was only during his forced 3 minute encounter with me. He continued to rush me. Now it wasn't like there was a line full of people behind me, because there wasn't. I wouldn't be that rude. There really was no need to rush. Yet he has been conditioned to do everything quick, fast and in a hurry. I don't work that way. I take my time. And that's in everything that I do.

I eat slowly. Always the last to finish my meal when I'm eating with others. And I'm typically the last one to arrive at events, gatherings, get-togethers, etc. Most of my friends know this and have accepted the fact that that's just me. I get there when I get there. So don't wait up.

I guess in a nutshell, I'd put it this way:

Life is meant to be lived...at its own pace.

YEP! That's it! Don't know if anyone's ever said that before because for me, it's an original thought. Simple, yet profound. Just like me.

There's only one reason that I can think of that's worthy of being in such a rush. That would be to be by the side of a loved one who is about to transition from this life into the next. Being there in time to say a final goodbye...the last "I love you". Yet even if you didn't make it in time...if that person knows how you feel about them BEFORE they're about to go, then even at the end it wouldn't matter if you didn't get there in time because your feelings were known to that person during the times that you shared with them. Even then, it would be okay if you got caught up in traffic. That's why it so important to tell those who mean the most to you exactly how you feel about them...while they are here...LIVING...so that you don't have regrets if you get caught in traffic at the end.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Are you one of those who rush through life? If so, why? Would you like to live life more slowly, or does the hurried pace work for you?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

p.s.- If you're ever in my home, you'd enjoy the sound of my living room clock that chimes every hour on the hour from 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Westminster Chimes. So you see, I do enjoy the look and sound of a clock...just don't like LIVING by one.