31 Days {day 12}: Quit the race

{If you’re stopping by for the first time today, you’ve landed in the midst of a 31 Day Challenge as I work toward 31 Days of Quotes that Inspire.  Welcome!  Catch up on the past 11 days here.}

“Hurry up!” are the two most detested words in my repertoire these days.

These words clunk out of my mouth as small hands grope about for a jacket sleeve.  When small feet pause to negotiate the leap from minivan to ground.  When small mouths are slow to chew, suck, and swallow.

These words are the “Flight of the Bumblebees” symphony of my daily life, charging each moment with a stinging urgency as I race from point A to B to C and back to A again (because I probably forgot something there).

These words tell me something I desperately need to attend to: I’m too busy.

Too busy to pause and smell the rich perfume of fall leaves.  Too busy to wipe away hot chocolate mustaches.  Too busy to treat myself to an extra chapter of a novel.

When I hear myself bark, “Hurry up,” I’m charging myself to take note.  What is it that has me in its rat-race clutches?  What urgent thing is taking undue precedence over an important thing?

The antidote to “Hurry up” is “Simplify.”  Slow down.  Purge.  Relax.  Detach.  Unplug.  Linger.

Because don’t I know how the fable ends?  The tortoise eventually gets to the finish line too.  And with better results.

{This post is shared with the lovely writing community at Five Minute Fridays.  It’s a 5-minute race to the finish with no pressure to compose the most profound or perfectly edited post.  Join in!}