The pace of life is ours to make. Whether fast or slow on the outside, our attitude on the inside is ours to choose: anxious, unruffled or an adjective in between. Paramhansa Yogananda would remind his disciples to “make haste slowly.” In other words, strive to be “actively calm and calmly active,” and in a manner that is “even-minded and cheerful.”
Yet, most folks turn this life into a rat race. Busy is the norm, and that can be good, but when busy is more about adding stress, competing for perks, or keeping up with the crowd, where’s the calmness? Where’s the joy?
Most of us have much that requires our attention every day, and things can pile up. Sadly, though, our approach to meeting the challenge is often merely out of habit and routine. Getting things done is without a sense of in-the-moment freshness. The goal is to get our have-to’s out of the way so that we can get on with our want-to’s.
Thus, it is not surprising that our social conditioning, aimed at getting ahead and getting what we want, tends to block us from our greater creative potential and solution consciousness. And for what? The world appears to be in a rush for what mostly remains out of reach, and is not fulfilling even when attained.
In short, we seem to be running around for little more than the sake of running around.
Those of us in the West in particular have been trained to be impatient, on the premise that it drives us to succeed sooner than later, but it can also lead us into decisions that would fare better if based on a patient perspective. When we rush into relationships, or into choices that lure us with more comfort and convenience, the result is likely to speed us into what we have sought to avoid.
Do you ever worry? Rushing and worry are joined at the hip. We want things to be certain, and when something is not, we commonly hit the accelerator to get beyond it, worried about the outcome if we don’t. People today even rush through their good times – “It’s been lovely, but I have to go.” – because habit says we need to find out what’s next.
The oddity in all of this is that none of us wants to be as we are when rushing. It’s exhausting. But instead of slowing down and living more from within, the majority turn their hectic pace into a source of pride, a kind of consolation prize for continuing to endure pressure, tension and worry.
Trial and error reveals what we are here to learn: how to live well, both spiritually and successfully in this world. We just need to learn it. Thank you, Master, for your divine patience in guiding us onward and upward to that learning.
Make haste slowly. The snappier, the better.