That may sound like a title from The Onion, but it seems like slowing down is about as likely as world peace these days.

Is THIS Fast Enough?

I read Ron Corzine’s IMPACT message on “the importance of slowing down” this morning, and gang, it’s got me so pegged.  I know it’s the most common of subjects . . . but I am a walking Exhibit A.

I had just finished wolfing down lunch today when, on my way back to the office, I decided to sit down in an outdoor area.  It is a beautiful afternoon with sun, a gentle breeze, and 72 degrees of perfection.  How long did I make it?  About 38 seconds.  Here’s what happened:

I started thinking about tomorrow.  I raced mentally through appointments to set up, work to prepare, and people expecting results.  Without realizing it, I got up, marched straight to the office, and continued work.  Was this a failure?  Or a dedication to work?

Failure, mostly.  The biggest tragedy is that I don’t even remember SEEING anything outdoors.  I mean, I remember sitting there, but I didn’t enjoy any of it, or take any of it in.  Here’s what Corzine wrote this morning that has me “guilty as charged”:

The faster you go in life the less time you have to enjoy. You can’t enjoy things at a fast pace. You have to enjoy them at a slow pace.

I’ve noticed as I travel around the world and I fly over a country at four hundred fifty miles an hour I don’t enjoy it all.

When I’m traveling by train in England and I go through the countryside at seventy-five and eighty miles an hour I enjoy it a little bit, but not much because I miss the details. We’re going too fast.

But if I really want to enjoy a town or a village or a city, I walk through it. It is in walking that you get the sights, the sounds and the smells and you slow down.

You cannot enjoy something fast. Enjoyment comes slow. If your life is just constant pressure, fast, fast, fast paced, you’re not enjoying anything. Let’s be honest about it. You may think you are but you’re not really enjoying it because you miss the details.

So, here I join the multitude of enlightened individuals telling you to slow down.  

“HOW?” you ask.

I know . . and I don’t really know.  I can schedule time for slowing down (e.g. ‘do nothing’).  I can plot weekly appointments that get me out of my routine, breathing fresh air, exploring new stuff . . . whatever.  But the oddity is that we think we’re being productive the faster we work . . yet it’s the very thing that’s killing us and our chance for success.

Worse yet, we can’t convince ourselves to slow down.  As the title suggests, it’s like we need some prescription nukes to settle ourselves down!  

Another part of the equation is RELATIONSHIPS . . . and I’ve been leaning on a few here lately – and it’s been really therapeutic.  Maybe we’re just not designed to be all that autonomous.  I mean, as someone who coaches people on self-management, I’ve got to come to grips with the fact that part of our autonomy is complete reliance on others.  

My good friend and colleague Eric Beck once said, “Peace isn’t the absence of conflict, but the mastery of conflict.”  In speaking with him recently about this view, I offered that the only way to master it is to be experiencing it . . taking some punches and giving some as well.

As in many things, an awareness of your pace may be the first step to improvement.  Hope my pain will save you from some of your own.

Appreciate your comments on the blog trail . . . .