Feeling Impatient is Your Cue to Slow Down

I was walking behind a woman this morning in a narrow hallway. She was walking so slow. In my head I’m thinking, “Why is she moving so slow?! Doesn’t she have anywhere to be?” I tried to speed up to maneuver around her. Fail. Luckily, she clearly noticed I was in hurry mode and moved to the side to let me pass. Thank goodness. Two seconds later I thought to myself, “Why are you in such a hurry, Charlene?” The interesting thing is that I really didn’t have to be in a hurry. I wasn’t running late or putting out the proverbial fire. I just wanted to get to where I was going and I didn’t see any reason why it should take so long.

We often find ourselves being impatient and for no particular reason at that. We want the car in front of us to speed up or the lady at the checkout line to scan faster. Go, go, go is our mantra. Time is money, so you better not take too long. What if those moments when the car in front of us is going 30 mph in a 50 mph zone or when the lady in the office building is walking like she’s taking a stroll along the beach are messages to us rather than inconveniences? What if they’re saying, “Slow down. Enjoy this moment”?

I’ve been working on balancing my chakras. I took a long walk with my dog yesterday. Normally I would have rushed through the walk. “I need to hurry up and get this over”. Yesterday I felt compelled to enjoy the walk, enjoy the sun, the wind and to enjoy spending the time with my dog. I felt led to enjoy my life. What I’m learning at this point in my journey is to relax and enjoy what I’m experiencing in each moment. Life already goes by fast enough yet we are so consumed with making it go even faster. Hurry up and get to work. Hurry up 5 o’clock so I can go home. Hurry up and have kids. I can’t wait until my kids graduate high school and I can have some time to myself.

There’s this never ending longing for the next moment and for the next phase of life. It’s natural to see growth and transformation in our lives. I teach about this often.  However, it’s also very necessary to enjoy every moment of the season we’re in. That season may find you husband-less, childless, money-less or waiting in line longer than you expected to. It’s still okay to enjoy it. In fact, it’s more than okay. It’s the best thing you could ever do for yourself and those around you.

As I am learning to balance my chakras I am also learning to balance the competing parts of me. There’s the part of me that wants to hurry up and get to where I’m going. On the other hand, there’s the part of me that wants to enjoy every moment of my life. The next time I am feeling impatient, frustrated, and moody because my fast food isn’t fast enough or because there’s a slowmobile taking forever in front of me I will take it as my cue to slow down. I will take it as my cue to enjoy this moment.