My friend forwarded me a story about an American man who started working for Volvo in Sweden, and the things he learned from the Swedish and their culture. One of the parts of his story that struck me was regarding taking life slow and enjoying your time. In it, he talked about how he got a ride to work with one of his Swedish co-workers. They arrived quite early in the morning and the parking lot was empty. Instead of taking the first available parking slot close to the company’s front door, however, the co-worker drove to the furthest part of the parking lot and found a spot there. When the American man asked his co-worker why he had picked the furthest spot from the front door, the co-worker answered, “ We’re early, so we have time to walk. Besides, those who are running late will need the spots closer to the door to get to work on time.”
“We’re early so we have time to walk.” Wow. Talk about a different perspective. Living in Tokyo, even going to the supermarket feels like I’m at the starting line of a marathon fighting to get to the front of the line. And let’s not even talk about the people who take three steps at a time up the staircase at the train station just to dive head first into a train and knock over 5 people in the process.
But how often do we actually think about living a “slow life?” I’ll admit, it’s a rare occasion for me. Society has taught us to cram as much into our day as we can. Business is driven on results being delivered on or ahead of schedule. We even have functions on our smart phones that will tell us how much time it will take us to get from point A to point B, so we can plan everything down to the last minute.
How many times, though, has being in a rush backfired on you? I am reminded of a song that I heard on (don’t laugh…) the Winnie The Pooh Show when I was a kid. (Seriously, stop laughing. It was a GOOD show when I was 7.) Anyway, Eeyore used to sing a song that went something like “Take your time, don’t hurry and scurry along. When you hurry, things tumble to the ground.” I cannot tell you how many countless times I have crashed, tripped, dropped something, broken something, or did something else completely avoidable if I had taken my time.
Beyond just taking your time, it’s about enjoying that time. It’s about noticing what’s around you, how it affects who you are, and what you are becoming. It’s about being with yourself and your loved ones, and appreciating the life you’ve been given. It’s about taking the time to learn about yourself and what you want out of life. It’s about relaxing, and just being. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
So do something for yourself that will allow you to experience a “slow life.” Walk to work (or at least part of the way) instead of taking the train. Get up 30 minutes early and read the newspaper over a cup of coffee. Go sit in a park and just people watch. Find whatever works for you to put some extra time in your day. And take notice of what comes up for you. Maybe you’ll even learn a little more about yourself and who you want to become.
