When we lived in Hong Kong, we were always amused by the signs that read “MIND YOUR HEAD”.
Not sure why that combination of words always made us smile.
Lately, the thought that is persistently in my head is
MIND YOUR SPEED
I keep thinking about the quote,
“There is more to life than increasing its speed” Gandhi.
I was doing better with that concept over the past year, and then something happened in April. I made an organizational design change that put me more in the day to day. And, we are working on a few big iniatives that I am deeply invested in.
But there are those close to me who tell me that I am always running fast and running full.
If you have ever done a race, you know that we all have a pace that pace...
that pace that we can maintain... throughout the race.
If we start to run faster, we go unaerobic… We run out of energy.
But, before we stop running altogether, we start gasping for more air…
We get short with people.
Our bodies are under physical stress and anxiety.
It all happens, when we are running too fast.
We don’t treat people well.
We don’t think things through thoroughly.
And, MOST importantly, we don’t enjoy the race…
We stop enjoying life…
The thing is – we ultimately control our speed, we make decisions both in every moment and across moments…
We MUST …
MIND YOUR SPEED…
Sometimes, we don’t realize we are running too fast.
We just keep picking up responsibilities and activities along the way.
And, the pace keeps going faster and faster, and we don’t realize it…
Or, we do, and we think we can just keep it up…
Until we can’t.
MIND YOUR SPEED…
For me, I don’t run fast because I like the speed.
I run fast because I can… but then I stop enjoying it.
I run fast because sometimes I question whether I deserve to run any slower.
I run fast because I am ambitious… and I want to run in a bigger race, but I need to finish this one first.
But, I need to be careful…
Because the moment finishing the race becomes more important than enjoying the run…
we stop living in harmony…
because
when finishing the race…
when winning becomes the goal…
we can’t help but start our sprint…
And, then disharmony comes when we wish we weren’t running so fast,
Or, we wish we could already be done.
Or, we wish we weren’t stressed…
Or, we wish we were treating those we loved better…
MIND YOUR SPEED…
Run your race…
And enjoy the sun light coming through the trees,
Enjoy the stumbles over the rocks,
Enjoy the stream running by your side,
And, the friends who push you and support you and so very often
RUN WITHYOU…
Enjoy the pain, the struggle…
Allow yourself the moments when you slow down to catch your breath
… Just a little bit…
And, then dig deep and push forward again…
Own your strength and be grateful for your stride…
RUN AS FAST AS YOU ARE ABLE TO… while enjoying the race…
And, when you stop enjoying it…
SLOW DOWN…
"There is more to life than increasing its speed" Ghandi...
Set your pace with purpose, with meaning and for joy.
And,
always
MIND YOUR SPEED...
To LIVE in harmony,
Nestor