We hardly live in the same world as we did when we were little.
Basanti’s dhanno and her entire village’s bullock carts have been overtaken (thankfully) by faster and racier automobiles; your pen pal is now an email – or a Skype chat – away; and like Shah Rukh Khan has recently been insisting on the telly, you could simply go online to buy your ghar ka samaan.
‘All in good time’? Nope, it’s everything’s here, right this second, right now.
Yet, in the mad scramble to beat our neighbour to the finishing post, are we forgetting the simpler things we enjoyed when we were kids?
‘Meal-on-the-go’, ‘Instant’ fairness, ‘Power’ yoga, ‘Rapidex’ English, ‘4G’ internet, ‘Speed’ news, ‘2-minute’ noodles.
All of the above are asking one rhetorical question: why wait?
Well, why not? What is wrong with waiting? Is patience not a virtue anymore?
Sure, you can jump on to the treadmill/the elevator/the fast road to wherever it is that you’re going – but have you really thought this through? Some day you’re going to burn out from all the frenzy... wishing you’d stopped the car to take in the scenery just a minute longer.
Take a look at the list below and you’ll know just why you need to slow down, NOW!
Oh Yes, Abhi? Really?
When we were growing up, we were constantly told – ‘Time is money’. Before we realised, it became our life mantra – our ONLY mantra.
With ads endorsing the need for speed in everything – from the growth of your infant to the speed with which you drank your Pepsi – it turns out that our time is being sold to us.
Fast & Furious
Need we say more? The race for being the first to break the news has reached such a level, that screaming and shouting it out comes first – validation can happen later. If you are a viewer, you ain’t seen nothin’ and you can thank your stars you haven’t. Working in a newsroom, where the yelling is often personal and the insults quick to come, can be hazardous for your mental and emotional health. Take our word for it.
‘Quick’ Meals Should be Illegal
We can’t say this enough. We LOVE our food, we cannot function without it, it’s our primary ice-breaker. Then why disrespect this most irreplaceable aspect of our life? Don’t have a quick bite. Chew slowly, digest better, relish every morsel.
‘Cat Naps’ are for Cats – Sleep
You don’t need ‘power’ naps, you need 7-9 hours of deep rest. Sleep is one of the few good things in life that comes to us for free, so why not enjoy it in abundance? And FYI, sleeping well also increases your productivity.
Meet, Don’t Just ‘Snap’chat
Your friends are still as important as they were when you were little, so don’t just keep in touch with them virtually. Go out, laugh, relive old memories, make new ones. Fight if you have to – then clear the air – but just make time.
This Selfie-sh World
Yes, self love is good, but you could surely do without the narcissism! You look into a camera, you smile, a click and it’s gone. Is social media approval all you care about? Wear that smile anyway, all the time. Embrace yourself, live your smile.
We know that for most of us, slowing down is the last thing we want to do. It’s a multi-tasking world and if we have to get ahead, we must keep up. But can we consider just this, for a second? Remember all the life lessons your grandparents taught you when you were a tiny being? The lessons about putting yourself first, living the joie de vivre?
They couldn’t have been that far off the mark, could they? Let’s live a little. Exercise, eat right, travel to little known places – whatever it is that makes you happy.
Run the race, sure. But as you do, do make sure that you’re led by your dreams and not compelled by your duties.
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