“Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace
With the vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me,
Amidst the day’s confusion
The calmness of everlasting hills
Break the tension of my nerves and muscles
With the soothing music of singing streams
That live in my memory.”
An extract from the poem “Slow me down Lord”, whose origin is disputed. Some sources cite Orin L Crain as having penned it in 1957, yet others accredit it to the well-known American writer Wilfred Peterson, author of the ‘Art of Living’ series of books.
Whether it’s Crain or Peterson, all of us could do well to heed these words of wisdom. In today’s world we seem to be living on speed dial, perpetually rushing hither and thither, forever in a big hurry. In the pursuit of happiness or success (or vice-versa), we often impose on ourselves an endless ‘To Do List’ of obligations of what we should, want to, ought to, or, are told to do. In the last instance, the critical advice of self-styled personal life coaches dispensed via podcasts, unfortunately does not come in a ‘one size fits all’ package, and often leads to further fatigue and general dissatisfaction.
Soon we find ourselves trapped in a holding pattern of executing a series of tasks – work, bills, parenting, social niceties, trying to keep abreast of the latest television shows, etc. At times, one cannot help but question whether our lifestyles are just variations of Bill Murray’s character, Phil Connors, in the 1993 romantic comedy, “Groundhog Day”. In the box office hit film, Connors becomes trapped in a time loop, waking up everyday and being forced to relive the same day, 2nd February, again and again. In reality, it’s a recipe for a life filled with stress and frustration, and inevitably ill health often in the form of a noncommunicable disease (NCD), such as cardiovascular disease, cancers, and chronic respiratory disease.
Sports fans are familiar with the rule which permits team coaches to call time-outs in basketball and American football, the number of which varies from the level of play (high school, college, or professional), and whether the game is televised, whence there are specific mandated commercial breaks or time-outs, as dictated by the broadcast schedule. Coaches call these breaks in the contest to discuss strategy, or simply to disrupt the momentum of the opposing team, which might be in a good rhythm and enjoying the better run of the game.
Are we calling time-outs in our personal lives? Perhaps, we should hit the pause button – every facet of our lives seemingly influenced by technology – and reflect on the advice of the aforementioned poem. Perhaps, we can slow ourselves down a bit by calling personal time-outs a few times a day, and begin asking ourselves what it is we truly aspire to in life. Is the current direction leading to our ultimate goal(s)? Of course, this is assuming that we have some kind of plan, and are not just drifting along with the tide. Often in chasing lofty heights we neglect the responsibility of paying attention to our health and burn ourselves out, both physically and mentally, thus never being in a position to truly savour our achievements. We fail to adopt proper sleep habits, and, or acquire unhealthy dependencies such as cigarettes, alcohol, or prescription medication.
Slowing down and self examination are not achieved with the waving of a magic wand, but with a disciplined approach which only we ourselves can facilitate. In our continuous state of rushing, more often than not, we discover too late that we have been missing the forest for the trees. It’s time to call time-out on ourselves before it is too late, we owe it to ourselves and our families.