Hurry Up!

"We're going to be late, again!"
"I can't believe these people in front of me are going so slow!"
"Is our food ever going to get here?!"
"I don't want that for dinner. Takes too long to cook."
"You need to work faster!"
"I wish we could hang out, but I just don't have time"
"Just put it in the microwave"
"I don't have time to listen to you now."
"I wish this pastor would wrap it up. I'm gettin' hungry."
"I need this done by tomorrow!"

Is it just me, or does everything in life have a deadline now? And I'm talking everything from getting up to going to bed, and everything in between. Everybody (myself included) seem to be in such a hurry for everything, everyday. Like life is going to collapse, or sift through our fingers if it is not done on schedule. My 'schedule'.

Observant examples from today:
- I'm working at an intersection. Car waiting to turn. Car behind car waiting to turn grows a little impatient (both been in turning lane for maybe three seconds). Car behind car begins to blow horn. Car doesn't turn. Car behind car blows horn again. Car still doesn't turn (up to about eight seconds now). Car turns, and as car behind car turns it lays on the horn and stays on it for about ten seconds. Apparently, car behind car had somewhere to be and was not there.
- Contractor needs utilities located. Tells me what he needs and I told him it might take a while. He tells me that he needs to dig now before I've even started to locate for him. Guess I better get going. (I locate underground utilities BEFORE people dig)
- I'm driving through a park. Upon exiting the park I see a woman walking a dog at the exit. She's walking across the exit with her dog where I need to drive through to leave. I'm barely moving as I approach the stop sign, giving said lady time to walk across. When I make it to the stop sign she looks at me and yells, "SLOW DOWN!" So I did, which means that I came to a complete stop since I was barely moving in the first place. She is apparently so aware of the rush everyone's in, that even when I'm not rushing, I'm prompted to slow down?

I mean really, is every task of everyday so extremely important that if not done within a certain amount of time then life as we know it (or plan for it to be) will unravel right before our pupils?

-Every meal that is eaten now is huffed down like it's going to hurdle off of the table if not consumed immediately. Why can't we take the time to enjoy the company and the food.
-Every time you drive, you're running late and the person driving in front of you is holding you up. So leave a little earlier so the entire drive to your destination is not one of pure anxiety (this I am guilty of almost daily).
-So what if the meal at the restaurant is not on your table five minutes after your order is muttered out of your mouth. Lest you forget that you are being served, as well as the other 50 customers in the restaurant? And how about enjoying the company you're with while waiting for your food?
-and on and on and on and on..............just think about the countless examples.

What's even more strange is that the majority of the day is filled with rush, rush, rush, but there is still plenty of time made to watch tv, or take a nap, or surf the web, or write a post on a blog, or........well, you get the point.

When you really get right down to it, being in a hurry is selfish and sinful. Maybe just from my perspective. I can think of numerous things about myself and my lifestyle I can change to keep from being in such a rush. When I get in a rush, it's all about meeting a schedule that I'm already fully aware of, but have failed to plan accordingly. Anything or anyone in my way of getting there will be thought less of, because it's all about me and MY time. When life gets in such a hurry, I really think life is missed out on. Hurry causes you to be so absorbed with your own destination and schedule that you have to meet, that you don't care about anyone or anything that's going on around you. How many conversations, or opportunities for service, or appreciation of surroundings, or just plain moments of silence and sanity are passed up because of the blinders that hurry puts on us.

I speak of this as much, and if not more, about myself than anything. I would just like to make myself more aware of not being in a hurry all of the time, just for the simple fact that it would make me more aware.

Let's just slow down and make time instead of time making us.

Peace,
t

Sidenote: Cool thing happened today. I lost my bluetooth earpiece for my phone a couple of months ago. Was working on Westport today, and looked down and saw it lying on the ground. That thing's been through all of the snow and rain we've had since January, and it's charging as we speak. Kudos to Plantronics.