The Art of Not Hurrying

I tried a little experiment recently.

In my determination to slow down and ruthlessly eliminate the feeling of hurry, I deliberately…. yes, deliberately, forced myself to stand in the longest line at Tesco to pay for my groceries.

I must admit it was tough!

I even let another person into the line to go ahead of me.

That was pretty tough too!

Admittedly, to begin with there were a few downsides, and I felt a little anxious as I observed other lines and self-checkouts moving faster.

But there were a lot more upsides!

I engaged in several lovely conversations and somehow that felt like a much better outcome for me.

In fact, I noticed things I would normally miss… a smile, a comment, a bit of shared humour.

It felt less like “wasting time” and more like choosing how to spend it.

It actually felt good, to start slowing.

Choosing to wait, made hurrying impossible for me.

I know I need to practice and train a little more and find a few other ways to slow myself even more.

Can I survive without hurrying?!

Hmmm….

Do you find yourself rushing when in fact there is no need to?

Maybe the slow lane isn’t the worst place to be after all.

Next time, I might even choose it again… on purpose.

What’s your version of the slow queue?