/Things you can’t plan for

Things you can’t plan for

By Katrina Boguski

Most people hate feeling rushed and frazzled although a few may claim to get some sort of high from the adrenaline spike brought on by ambitious deadlines.  Those who do fall into this latter category frequently need long stretches of recovery time to recharge their batteries and regain a sense of equilibrium. Some people, who spend their lives rushing, have never slowed down long enough to consider that their life and work might look like under more favourable conditions.

I am not sure where this line came from, but I repeat it frequently on days when the impossible seems to be the bare minimum required.  The saying is, “Go slow to go fast.” 

Few people are able to produce their best work under chaotic conditions. On any given day, you might not be able to gain control over the chaos in front of you, but often you can have some control over the speed at which you approach it. By slowing down, you are better able to assess which of the items on your to do list is a priority. 

Conversely, by continuing to operate at breakneck speed, you inevitably end up doing the items that are some other person’s priority.  If you find yourself starting your day in a panic, rushing from one task to the next, just to get out the door, “go slow to go fast”. Literally stop in your tracks and acknowledge that some days you will not be able to check off all of the items on your to do list, especially if some of those items were placed on that list by other people. 

When you go slowly enough to give the proper attention each item requires and deserves, you will find yourself with more mental energy to speed up eventually. You will have assessed what are the most important things to you, and from this perspective, you will have a greater ability to discern what you are able to do well. 

There are things in life for which you simply cannot plan. Sometimes these are emergencies and events that are hard to bear. Other times, these are joyful events that happen without our influence or control. When we rush, we have a greater tendency to create the circumstances that fuel negative events. When we slow down, we have the opportunity to open up our awareness of those fleeting moments of joy that might just take us by surprise. 

As the autumn leaves change colour in Minden and the surrounding area, slow down long enough to watch a few of them fall. In life, there will always be things that you can’t plan for; sometimes they are little moments, sometimes big ones. Sometimes they are unexpected happy events, sometimes they are sad ones. Regardless of the nature of the unplanned event, your ability to receive it into your life will always be improved if we are not rushing at the time it happens. 

The world will not slow down for you. However, you can slow down for it. When you do, you might just find that you are able to accomplish more and better things under conditions that still allow room for those unexpected events for which you could not plan.