What's the rush?

I am guilty of always having something to do and somewhere to be.  I seldom take time to slow down and relax.

"... it is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essential..."

- Dieter F Uchtdorf

Today I needed that advice.

I had to take a trip to the post office today.  E decided that instead of riding in the pram she would walk.  This would be ok, except for the fact that it takes me ten minutes to walk, how long was it going to take waiting for E to walk?

We started out and I found myself getting impatient instantly.  I tried unsuccessfully to put her in the pram many times.  After walking for about 5 minutes (and still being able to see our house) I took a deep breath.  The truth is I didn't have anything else I "needed" to do.  There was no reason for me to be in such a hurry.  So I finally decided to just let her walk.

We stopped and talked to a puppy.  We stopped and smelled the flowers (weeds).  We stopped to look at the birds.

It didn't matter that it took us half an hour to get to the post office. We got there. She didn't walk the whole way, but she enjoyed walking and exploring and I enjoyed watching her.

There will always be things that need doing, but there are always things that don't need doing right now.  I learned a valuable lesson today.  It seems to be one I am learning over and over again.  These years are precious and if I continue to fill them with non-essential things they will be gone and forgotten before I even realise.

Instead of having a memory of stepping into the post office for the hundreth time, I have memories of watching E chatting to a puppy, smelling some flower weeds and looking at birds.