DAY 313 - RUSH, RUSH, RUSH

DAY 313

Lat Friday, I had the afternoon off so I went to the hairdresser. Then, on Sunday, I went to get a manicure.  Twice in a weekend, I took time to pamper myself, which I love doing.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I never seem to fully enjoy it.  I always feel pressed with time.

On Friday, I had to pick my kids up from school at 3:30pm.  My hairdresser kept on talking, telling me about her love life (usually the customer opens up to the hairdresser, in my case, it seems to be the other way around).  As a result, she was taking her sweet time. So, I began to get a little stressed, not focusing on what she was telling me anymore.

On Sunday, when I went for my manicure, my whole family was waiting for me to go have lunch at my in-laws.  The esthetician was running late, so I had to wait.  When she was doing my nails, I couldn't enjoy it, I just wanted her to finish fast.

In the morning, I rush to go to work.  I rush to come back.  I rush to try to get a workout into my day.  I rush to get my kids from school.  I rush to get dinner ready.  I feel like I'm constantly rushing from duty to duty, barely having the time to breathe and definitely not taking the time to savour the day.      

I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.  Many people are stuck in the whirlwind of life.  The thing is, I know it is more emotional than anything else.  The feeling of urgency is self-inflicted.  And, of course, it's also clearly cultural., some sort of North American trait.

I was listening to a radio show the other day.  Three immigrant women living in Montreal (one from Morocco, one from Uganda and the other one from Italy) were being interviewed.  They were asked what cultural characteristic they would import from their respective country.  All three replied the pace of life.  They all felt that in their country, people took the time to enjoy life much more than here in Montreal... that is something I could definitely learn from!

I realize that I could have control over that feeling.  In reality, there aren't many emergency situations in my life.  It is only a matter of controlling my emotions (not that easy, but possible).

Breathing helps, meditation helps, rationalizing it and writing about it helps, being more organized helps.

Being stressed out doesn't help me be more efficient, it actually does just the opposite.  When I'm rushing, I tend to become more forgetful, less focused and more erratic.  I'm often left with the impression I forgot something, which I generally did.

I don't have a miracle solution, but I do think that by becoming aware of it and working at it every day, it is possible to achieve to a calmer state of mind.