A Snail's Pace

One of the biggest challenges in my life is finding balance. It seems as if it should be easy, but then my tendency to rush here and there; to fit just a little more in; and to feel almost guilty for taking "me" time kicks in. One of the many things I admire about Andrew is his ability to maintain a pretty good balance (well, most of the time!) and not waste energy worrying about things that it doesn't make sense to worry about. For me, this is harder. But, after several years of stressing about this whole "balance" concept rather than acting on it, I think I'm finally learning :) Learning to look after my spirit, because that is the most important part of my being. That work is a part of life but shouldn't dominate it. That there is only so much energy to go around. That it is OK to take an unplanned day off from training if my body needs it. That a cup of tea and a good book are great friends. And that yoga is a really, really, really good idea!

In a world where we can microschedule every moment of our day; can be tracked down by cell phone almost anywhere; and can have so many demands on our time from so many sources, it can be hard to slow down and just "be." But the energy we can gain from those moments is huge! When life starts to get too busy, I try to think of this little dude whom we met while hiking the West Coast Trail last year. Okay, so he's a slug, not a snail ("A Slug's Pace" just didn't work as well for the title!)
I suspect that in his little world, life is more about the journey than the destination...'cause it might take a really long time to get there! This little guy is a great reminder for me to just slow down sometimes; to smell the flowers; to "keep up with Lucy" when she is taking a nap (as that will make for faster running later!); and to enjoy every aspect of the journey.

Racing fast is great :) But sometimes it really is OK to move at a "snail's" pace.