This is something I am getting used to. Not having to hurry. First, working from home for the past 5 weeks, and then being on staycation this week, it has been a loop that has a stubborn hold on me.
Not having to drive anywhere, not necessarily having to get dressed up and even completely groomed- all have made not hurrying a real possibility. Yet, for several weeks, I continued to pack my schedule and to carry around the racing from thing to thing energy.
I still had it at the beginning of this vacation week, and now on Friday I am starting to feel like I am breaking the loop. It is reminding me, again, how important it is to take regular breaks. Real breaks. And also how long it can take to break the cycle of hurrying, and how important having patience for yourself can be.
A quick story about hurrying.
I was going through old magazines this week and ripping out recipes and pages I wanted to keep so that I could get rid of the rest. I found a recipe for a pina colada smoothie that looked like something we might like to make, since we drink a lot of pina coladas when we are on our annual vacation in Florida. I gave it to my son because he’s been concocting a lot of smoothies in the past few weeks and getting really good at it.
One night we were eating dinner and he decided to try to make the pina colada smoothie. He started to make it without looking to see if we had all of the ingredients. We did have pineapple and a few of the other things so he forged ahead. And then he came to coconut- we had none, coconut milk, nope, as well as several other key ingredients. He googled substitutes and decided to make the smoothie anyway, without many of ingredients listed.
Well, as you might imagine, the smoothie was NOT a pina colada- it did not taste that bad to me, but it was not the expected flavor and he was disappointed. And resources were wasted in the meantime without the desired results.
It just made me think- when we rush to put something together without key ingredients- it MIGHT work out and you MIGHT learn something.It certainly won’t be what you were intending to create.
However, when you have a recipe and you know what you need and waiting ONE more day to get the proper ingredients lined up could make you the best smoothie (or whatever) you have ever had- it MIGHT be worth waiting that one more day. Or that week, or month, or however long it is.
Cutting corners does not work. Substitutions will not always work. Give yourself the time you need to be prepared to do what it is you want to do. Work diligently doing what you can do at the time. Don’t fall into procrastination either- but just give yourself that extra time to get it right. There is no need to hurry to get it wrong.
You don’t have to hurry!
It is a good lesson in delayed gratification, as well. Many times we forge ahead because we want it RIGHT NOW.
Coaching questions (take some time to write out your answers):
Where have you been hurrying?
Where could you slow down?
What lessons have you learned about hurrying, now that you think about it?
How will you apply these thoughts to what you are doing right now in your life?
You don’t have to hurry!
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