One of the hardest things for me to do is to slow down. But this was the next thing I wrote in my journal, "You are way over the speed limit of life. You need to slow down." I wrote it down and then I looked at it and it just struck me as one of those things that I've needed to hear so often in my life. Life isn't a race. This is one of those quintessential lessons that we all hear at different times in our lives. We say to ourselves, "Got it. Life isn't a race. I understand. I've got it." But we don't. We don't. We don't enjoy the journey as much as we can and as much as we should. Another one of those lessons we tell ourselves, "Got it. Enjoy the journey." But we don't. We continue to rush around like maniacs.
But here's the real problem with racing through life. If you think of life as a race, every step sideward, every step backward, every pause, will seem like it doesn't belong. It will seem like every step sidewards, every step backwards, every pause, is a waste of time. And nothing could be further from the truth. Every step is part of life and there is life in every step.
Life isn't a race, it's a dance. Every step forward, every step back, every step to the side, twirling in circles, pauses, are all part of the dance we call life. Great dancers are never in a hurry. They relax into the rhythm, they become one with their partners, and they experience the exhilaration of the dance. When was the last time your life felt like that? Simply slowing down improves almost everything in our lives