Highland Cattle in Scotland |
These days I
find life is going far too quickly. Has it always been like this ? I can
understand why time had to pass by very quickly when the children were growing
up. Amidst my own work, workout
and coffee sessions with friends, I had my children’s activities to
organize so it was a matter of
juggling acts. Seemingly when there were tons of things going on plus there
were plenty of ferrying to do, time had to fly. Now that I have more free time
at my disposal, somehow I still find myself having not enough time to do all
the things I like to do. Someone asked me to help out at one women organization
since my children are away and I might experience the so called “empty nest
syndrome”. I told the friend that I still had plenty of things to do . Her reply was “ its interesting how as we get
older, friends are telling me they have no time. mebbe we do things slower.”
To think of it,
her quip bears some truth. Maybe
subconsciously, we do things slower now that we need not have to dash around
trying to fit in our own schedules by working around our children’s tuitions
and activities. It could be because we now feel that we have earned the luxury
of going about our daily tasks more leisurely. I certainly hope to have less to do so
that I can finally have the
time to rewrite that novel which never gets to the finishing line or write that
story which I started or catch up with my far away friends.
Quite often we
are creatures of habits . I used to be diligent in my exercise regime, I played
tennis several times a week, went to yoga sessions twice a week and gym at
least once a week. I led an active lifestyle. I was often in a hurry as I
rushed about to fit in my tennis and yoga and doing all my favourite things
along with my work and getting my daughters to classes and tuitions. Now that I
do not have any ferrying to do, I slow down. Maybe I needed my tennis and yoga
to constantly recharge myself to keep myself going
from one errand to another. I needed the adrenalin pumping. These days I play
less tennis and go to yoga
sessions sometimes or not at
all as I find myself not willing
to rush from one point to another and brave the traffic. I like to take my time
to go from one place to another and I yearn for more quiet moments to read. Though I enjoy having coffee and chatters about nothing with
my friends, I need those quiet time alone. I do not want to be swept away by constantly having
appointments, agendas or goals to meet.
Somehow as we age and carry on past middle age, the time before us are
not only inversely proportionate to the time behind us, it appears to
accelerate at a lightning speed.
My late dad used
to be very much involved with
social work like fund raising for a school his daughters had attended and some cultural events so much so that all I could
remember was he had kept a very
tight schedule and believe me he was forever on the go. He had slept very
little and he definitely enjoyed
keeping himself busy until his health took its toll. Unlike my dad, I have the
making of a beach bum; I like to have a life where I can idle and spend more
time with my loved ones and friends even if just to talk about all things
inconsequential. I want to be in touch with my surroundings . I feel life has
been going too quickly. Multi- tasking can be fun but it is hard to do better
in each task. I reckon one will get more joy in every task one attends to if one can have the time and
opportunity to perfect each and everyone of the tasks. When I focus on hitting
the tennis balls, I definitely get more out of each and every shot I deliver even if they are far from
competitive level .I used to find baking therapeutic. It was because when I
immersed myself in the mixing and blending, for those moments it felt bliss and
time stood still. When one puts one’s mind into executing a task, one will get
the most out of it if one could take one’s time in doing it .So if we do less
or do things slower, will life slow down for us ?
Brighton city |