Slow Down And Reflect

You may or may not have already read this poem as it is circling the viral world in a chain message. And the story behind it may or may not be true (supposedly, a terminally ill teenage cancer patient). But regardless of that, the message stands true.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?

When you ask "How are you?"

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow?"

And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time to call

and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift...

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

This poem is a little like the two quotes I posted yesterday (6/26). It's about taking time to enjoy what's happening around you, what you're going through, rather than just getting through it. But, admittedly, this is easier said than done. It's easy to say, we need to slow down and appreciate our surroundings, our life. But it's hard to do so in this whirlwind society. So we've admitted that it's hard to slow down in the middle of this race. But what if we start by giving ourselves just 10 minutes of calm, 10 minutes of serenity, 10 minutes to slow down? Let's recall the 7th habit of highly effective people and teenagers: "sharpening the saw." This habit tells us to take just 5 or 10 minutes at the end of each day to reflect about what happened; this way, you're ready for tomorrow. But now, let's reflect back and see what we missed. What was good about the day, what do we need to remember, what happened to make us better?

So your challenge? To take a look around you every now and then and notice what your missing. Don't push to finish everything first. Because really, is life a race? If it is, who are you racing against? No one except yourself. And that's unnecessary. So take a break and smell the roses. That may be difficult at first, so start out small and give yourself 10 minutes to reflect each night to realize what you missed.