As I was driving into work today listening to my Deepak and Oprah meditation on living with passion while simultaneously thanking God for this fantastic life, I realized that as I slowed myself down mentally and (in my car) physically, I was actually making more and faster progress toward my goal, which was to arrive safely to work.

I have spent most of my life believing that being quick and agile is so much better than being slow… I often get frustrated with my spouse because he is on the opposite end of the spectrum (according to my standards) with regards to speed in getting things done. I often wonder in my mind (and do my best not to say it out loud), “How can anything be accomplished if you go so slow?!”

During my drive to work this morning I had a fundamental and possibly life-changing shift in perspective. The more relaxed I became about my daily experience of driving to work, the more it seemed that traffic just flowed. Lights turned green. My lane kept moving with few to no holdups. And I drove into the parking lot earlier than usual… How could that be? I hadn’t been hurrying as usual. I wasn’t passing other cars at 80 miles per hour. I didn’t become impatient with the driver in front of me who was going slow in the fast lane (oops, I wasn’t in the fast lane so there was no need to even go there). I maintained a steady, slightly above the speed limit, pace. I was breathing in the cool morning air with my convertible top down and “enjoying the ride”… and I still arrived early.

So today I learned that:

When I stop hurrying, I get there faster.

Though my morning commute was the basis for this grand insight, there is a much greater message here that I hope will impact my life (and yours) going forward. Think of all the times that you are hurrying trying to get somewhere or get something done. If you’re driving, you will hit every red light, encounter multitudes of pedestrians crossing in front of you, find slow drivers in your lane and a host of other time impediments – every single time you are in a hurry… If you’re in the kitchen cooking and trying to get something done quickly, you always ending up dropping something that makes a big mess, forgetting an essential ingredient, cutting yourself, or burning a wrist on the oven door… every single time you’re in a hurry. Today’s advice: Stop hurrying and you’ll get there faster.

I could drudge up all the old saying like “stop and smell the roses” or “life is about the journey not the destination”. There are a host of such sayings and today, I FINALLY got the message. But I can distill them all down to one short phrase: WHEN I STOP HURRYING, I GET THERE FASTER.  Love and peace be with you!