| Two very wise creatures |
Now that Lent is almost over, I can confess that I have
given up rushing (again) and that I forgot that I had done this last year. So,
there is still work to be done here. Yes, when driving. My instinct when
driving is to increase speed when the light turns yellow, to go at least five
miles an hour above the speed limit, to never wait behind someone making a left
hand turn if it can be avoided. I have experimented over the past few weeks
with noticing these impulses, and sometimes doing the opposite. The interesting
thing is that waiting behind that car in the left lane is not that bad. It
doesn’t take me any longer to get places than it does when I rush, and when I
arrive, I am much calmer. Hm.
Besides on the road, the time I notice the most rushing is
in the morning with my son. No wonder our mornings can be so unpleasant and
full of conflict when I’m always rushing us. I realized that part of the reason
for this is that we have to get to school by a certain time for him to eat
breakfast there. So I experimented for the past two days, and fed Daniel at home,
and it changed my whole attitude about our morning. I didn’t care nearly as
much about when we arrived at school. Interestingly, we actually got there in
time for breakfast, but the whole morning leading up to it was so much more
pleasant for both of us.
Lent is almost over, but I hope to take these lessons with
me. Rushing only makes me less happy, and doesn’t get me there any faster. Maybe
Mr. Rogers was right about taking our time, like he was right about so many
things.
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