Inspirational Shorts Vol. 4: Good Things Are Worth Waiting For!

This world we live in seems to be forever moving faster.

Whether that's simply my perception or actual reality, there's little doubt that I seem to encounter more and more impatience in people than I used to.

Folks expect everything NOW! And there's a whole world of commerce out there, waiting to comply with this trend... right down to Amazon offering virtually instant drone delivery of products to certain areas.

Take time to watch the natural world around you!

Where Are We Headed?

Sometimes I wonder where all this "haste" is taking us.

We value vintage wines and perhaps enjoy a glass of 20-year old whisky... but will our future hold "Chateau Five Minutes Ago" wines for us... because we have grown too impatient and demanding to wait for things to mature to their best time?

Personally, I always liked the "Slow Food Movement" and similar initiatives, not only as a commitment to hand made food, but also as a way to honor the way I remember dinners from my childhood, in the late 1960's.

At family gatherings, we'd sit down to dinner at around 6:30, and with a nice three-course dinner, the adults would rarely rise from the table after "coffee, brandy and little cakes" had done the rounds somewhere around 9:30 or so.

Spring blossoms

Lessons From My Parents

Of course, we have "fast food" these days — from McDonald's to pouring boiling water into a plastic cup of freeze-dried "something" and calling it "food" — but do we really need to be in such a hurry?

I remember both my parents pointing out that it was a form of "honoring the cook" to take your time and truly savor the food someone might have taken several hours to prepare.

Maybe these were unusual values to grow up with, because I often find myself at dinners these days where I am only half-way through my meal by the time everyone else is done gulping theirs down and now they are — figuratively speaking — "tapping their feet" because we need to get ON with things!"

Forsythia in bloom

Again, Where Are We Headed?

Where exactly is it we are all going, so fast?

Recently, I have been writing some about the future of work, automation, Universal Basic Income and societal trends.

Part of what comes to the surface in such discussions is the greater case of "Societal FOMO" that seems to pervasive:

People end up being "so busy" because nobody really knows what "enough" looks like, and the system we have created is such that it encourages people to stay forever stuck on the hamster-wheel-of-work because of fears of scarcity.

Increasingly, I find myself relating quite deeply to a bumper sticker I see from time to time:

"The Best Things in Life are not THINGS!"

I'm inclined to agree, and have abandoned the quest for "things," which almost makes me a traitor committing treason against a "Consumer Society."

Pay Attention to Details!

MORE Doesn't Mean Better!

Of course, there is no need to take it all to extremes.

The suggestion to slow down and make peace with "having enough" in our lives; choosing quality over quantity doesn't have to be some weird absolute that demands we all go live in lean-to shacks with no running water.

It's more a state of mindfulness in which we choose to pause for long enough to not only be conscious in our decision making... doing things because they are truly meaningful to us... and we choose to pause for long enough to fully be present and enjoy what we are in the middle of doing...

... rather than just see each thing we engage in as "merely another stepping stone on the way to do something else really-really-REALLY-fast!"

Ultimately, the best things in life... are worth waiting for!

Thanks for reading!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(Credit where credit is due: partial inspiration for this post thanks to @onceuponatime)

(As always, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190217 17:06 PST
0898