"
Just be patient. Let the game come to you. Don't rush. Be quick, but don't hurry." ~Earl Monroe
Each weekday morning I leave early for work. My 5:30am start works for me as I can have the quiet of the office to accomplish quite a few tasks. What always surprises me though are the number of other people. Those early morning lights upon the freeway making their way to some destination.
In 2009, the estimated population of the Atlanta metropolitan area was roughly 5.8 million souls. So there are bound to be people on the roads at all times of the twenty-four hour cycle of a day. And each one of us seem to be in a race to somewhere.
My particular ride to and from work is short by standards, only eight miles to go with six of those on the freeway. Yet I see so much in those six short freeway miles. The folks in their big shiny cars, pickups, clunkers, trucks, tiny and green cars. There are the fancy along with the boxy and utilitarian models.
Each one of these folks without very few exceptions are in a hurry to get to their destination. In many respects it appears to be a race. A race to get in front of those two cars ahead of you. Zooming in and around others with a seeming need to be ahead of the other.
All the while, there are always more cars in front of you. The thing I have always thought of is a great race to nowhere. We speed and dart about as if all 5.8 million people are racing to the same destination where only two parking spots are left. Be there first and you have your choice of the spot closest to the front door.
I have
read that nearly one-third of all traffic deaths are related to speeding. A sobering statistic that in rushing to get somewhere, some are ending up in the same place.
Which is my point, life isn't a race. The end result for all of us is the same. It can be argued that we have only a limited amount of time on this great earth so we have to do as much as we can as quickly as possible. And what follows this life I'll leave to your own beliefs. But we each need to slow down just a little bit and enjoy some of our journey.
That rush to be first, to park the closest, to be there before anyone else causes us to miss things along the way. The old saying that you should "
stop to smell the roses" has meaning. By never slowing down, we will miss opportunity to really experience life.
You can be quick to react, you can be in a fast slip-stream of life; just don't miss the view along the side of the road. As I slow down, I certainly don't want to see you mangled along the side of the road. I would rather see you along the side of the road smelling the roses. And I'll even be so kind to leave you the parking spot closest to the door.
