What's the Rush?
I have always favoured a slow approach to life (I have my super-chilled parents and Latin American upbringing to thank for that), but lately have embraced ‘slowness’ with passionate intentionality.
In today’s fast-paced society, we all feel pressure to scurry around like ants. We over-schedule and over-commit, spending our days and weeks feeling like we are ‘chasing our tail’.
To what purpose? To what end? Is being fast really more efficient?
Recently, I have delved into the wisdom and writings of Dr Martin Seligman (Father of the modern-day ‘Positive Psychology’ movement). In his book, Flourish, he extols the virtues of slowness. For example, when we slow down, we have time for reflection, we notice details, we allow space for creativity, we can check for errors and spend time on blue-sky thinking and planning.
As I look back on nearly three decades as a Childcare Centre Director, I know that mistakes and injuries have often been linked to rushing. Whether it is tripping and falling or accidentally offering the wrong food to a child with a life-threatening allergy, these are mistakes we simply cannot afford to make.
What is the solution? Put simply…. Slow down!
Our friends and experts from the Raising Children Network offer this advice about the benefits of slowing down to support healthy emotional development:
So practice with me now. Close your eyes. Breathe – slowly-- in and out.
Now doesn’t that feel better?