What’s the Hurry?
Reflections on why we rush
Here’s a question for you:
Can you read all the way through to the bottom of this post without rushing? Without skimming? Without hurrying through to glean the best bits and move on?
Do you notice any squirmy resistance as you do so and can you allow the tension to simply be?
If so, you might enjoy what I have to share with you below all the more:
It’s an excerpt that explores the reasons why we rush with a couple of questions (that I’ve been asking myself) to contemplate afterwards.
But first, how about a deep breath?
Ahhh…🙌🏼
“Why we can’t stop rushing”
by Melissa Kirsch
We rush because we’re late. We also rush because we want to move quickly away from discomfort. We rush to come up with solutions to problems that would benefit from more sustained consideration. We rush into obligations or decisions or relationships because we want things settled.
Worrying is a kind of rushing: It’s uncomfortable to sit in a state of uncertainty, so we fast-forward the tape, accelerating our lives past the present moment into fearsome imagined scenarios…
This obsession with being done with things, of living life like an endless to-do list, is ridiculous. I find myself sometimes having a lovely time, out to dinner with friends, say, and I’ll notice an insistent hankering for the dinner to be over. Why? So I can get to the next thing, who cares what the next thing is, just keep going. Keep rushing, even through the good parts…
I’ve been trying to notice when I’m rushing, physically and psychologically. “Where are you going?” I ask myself. “And why are you in such a hurry?” That pause helps put a little space between here and there, and might, with any luck, avert future misery.
—Excerpted from “Why we can’t stop rushing” by Melissa Kirsch, The New York Times, March 2, 2024
Your turn:
Some questions to journey with (that I’ve been asking myself)…
If your habit is to rush, tell us, what does hurrying ultimately get you?
Who are you hurrying for?
In case you missed it…
Butterfly Lessons
What caterpillars can teach us about moving through the messy middles of change. For those of you who might be feeling jittery about the times we live in, may a little video offer some perspective on what it takes to move through the messy middles of change and finally, fully… fly.
Oh such a great topic! I am a self aware rusher who has been working on being more present for many years with some success. Some.
I love all the reasons that the author Melissa wrote about. It’s such good exercise to ask why we are doing it. For me it’s usually because I’m disconnected from my body and think I’ll get to someplace easier. My mantra lately is to try to be more comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s such a joy when I realize I’m rushing and I do have to.
Years ago I was sitting around the dinner table with my lovely 3 girls and my sweet husband and I totally was absorbed with the next thing. “ now after dinner I want you to clear the table and then go brush your teeth and get your Jammie’s on and bla bla bla. My husband looked at me with a giggle and said “ and then we can do it all over tomorrow” in that instant I thought gosh. I don’t want to rush through their childhood. Where the joy in that? I confess I wish I had learned that lesson but it’s a continual lesson for me and that’s ok. I’m a work in progress and as they say in my meditation app” Just begin again” What freedom and no shame!
Here’s to the now in whatever we are going through as best as I can. And I say this with full knowledge that I have some hard things going on and worries but I can still enjoy my next breath.
Thank you!