Much Ado about Nothing

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