I woke up the other morning thinking this phrase – “Too much. Too fast.” I’m not sure what I had been dreaming, but the intrinsic veracity of that statement hit me full-force as I lay in bed coming to the day. Too many great things. Too many tragic things. Too many dutiful things. Too many trivial things. Life is full of simply too much.
And something of our 21st century lifestyle tells us we have to take advantage of all of this “too much” at one time. We want to own a house, have a nice car, and own the newest Smart phone, all before we’re older enough to vote. We want our kids to have the best schools, the greatest chances at college, the best extra-curricular activities. We want it all, and we want it now, as the cliche goes.
I am certainly part of this. At moments, I feel like life is moving so fast that if I don’t pick up my pace I’m going to miss out. In those moments, I find my breath shallow, my shoulders at my ears, and my heart racing. Sometimes it can take me falling completely into a dreamless sleep before I can come out of that mode.
I don’t know what has sped up society so much. I don’t know if it’s the Internet or greed or competition or technology. What I do know is that I really need to slow down. I need to savor the things I have now. I need to really be with the people I am with. I need to trust that the rest will come when and if it needs to come. Maybe one day I’ll wake up thinking, “So slow; so good.”