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3 Questions to Slow Down the Hurry in Your Life

3 Questions to Slow Down the Hurry in Your Life

It’s happening almost every day, I’m tempted to rush. Sometimes I start the day already feeling behind. The kids aren’t motivated to get dressed and get to school in time. I’ve forgotten to make someone’s lunch. Or there is some random worksheet someone didn’t to do for homework. Sometimes the urge to rush doesn’t appear until later when I find myself multi-tasking. Trying to fold laundry and be on a call. Or dinner prep and catching up on my favorite podcast. And often I find myself feeling like I’m just behind or late. More than ever we are a culture of hurry.

But what is all of this rushing getting us? Are we actually more productive? More importantly, with all of this rushing, are we actually happier—more fulfilled? I’m not. I’m distracted from the task at hand. I’m irritated when someone interrupts as I’m listening to an audio book. I’m hurrying past the beauty offered in many moments of my day. I’m also uncomfortable with quiet slow moments. You know, the moments in your day when you aren’t sure what to do next. These moments are opportunities to turn toward listening to God but most of us get uncomfortable with these slow moments. We want to get on to the next thing we are meant to do. But we are missing something when we resist these moments. We are missing the quiet nudges from God. We are missing the opportunity to be, simply sit with him and enjoy his presence.

If you are like me and find yourself rushing, or feeling the urge to rush, through most of your days consider these three questions.

3 Questions to Slow Down the Hurry in Your Life

  1. What am I hurrying toward?

  2. What am I rushing away from?

  3. What am I missing when I hurry?

What am I hurrying toward? When I stop and ask myself that question, often times I don’t really know. I might no what I am rushing to get done in the moment (putting the laundry away, getting dinner ready, meeting a work deadline) but I don’t know what the bigger goal is. I’m simply in a hurry to get as much done as I can. The truth is, there isn’t a finish line for the hurrying. It’s not a destination or goal that once we get the task at hand done, then we can stop hurrying. Hurrying follows us. And the more we do it the more we get stuck in the pattern. But when we stop and ask what we are hurrying toward it starts to diffuse our nature to rush. Realizing that most of the things ahead will still be there regardless of how quickly we get to them.

What am I rushing away from? Some of us may not be motivated by a perceived finish line. Instead we are moving quickly from something that lies behind. Something we want to distance from. Pain, fear, boredom. These are just a few motivators to rush away from the past. If this is you, try remembering that time will move you away from the past regardless of how quickly you move. Instead try to release the feelings of the past through intentional movements, enjoying the present moment.

What am I missing? When we spend most of our time hurrying from one task to the next, one appointment to the next, we miss out on the gift that each day brings. We live close enough to the local elementary school that it makes sense for us to walk their for drop off and pick each day. If I’m being honest some days the walk feels like a time suck. The kids move slow. I have to walk there and back. There is so much I could be doing with that time. But, this past week as I was walking them to school I started to notice the beauty in this slow moment once I allowed my mind to stop attempting to rush past it. The air was warm, the sky was clear, it felt good to move my legs and my son and I were having a lovely conversation. All of these details I might have rushed past on another day if I was distracted and worried about getting to the next thing quicker. The best things in life are not always more expensive or extravagant. When we can bring intention to our day and resist the rush we find the riches of the details in the small moments.

If you are like me, and find yourself tempted to rush or hurry throughout most of your week, consider asking yourself these three questions to help yourself slow down and appreciate the moment.

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