No Worry, No Hurry

No worry, no hurry. Or, no hurry, no worry. Pick one. The order doesn’t matter. I tell myself these four words, in fluctuating order, most every day. I figure I am finally old enough to fully apply them.
I have spent far too much time in my life in a hurry; and somehow connected to that, in “a worry.” I would schedule too many things to do in a specific time period, and then I would rush through it. What did I gain? Nothing. I didn’t enjoy my time or my day—and that is the one requirement I intend to apply for the rest of my journey. If I cannot enjoy my daily life, I am giving away the one thing I have: today.

Slow down and live; slow down and enjoy. Enjoy what? Being alive, having loved ones, having something to do you enjoy doing, which includes for me taking in the beauty of nature, whether Iowa oak trees or walking along a beach at sunset in central coast California, our new home. Everywhere I look, there is beauty waiting to be discovered.

So what is the hurry, anyway? Carl Jung said, “Hurry not only is of the devil; hurry is the devil.” When you hurry, you cannot think things out properly, or establish the right sequence and pace. Like calming music, life prospers when there is a relaxing meter, tone and temperament. A time-lapsed series of photos, say of the maturing of a rose bush, may be amazing to watch, but there is no longer time to enjoy the process and stages of growth of that bush. It is like you missed out.

We hurry through our meals. We rush through our conversations and exchanges. There is always the next thing awaiting our attention. Our children get into far too many things. They have too many activities to choose from, and feel pressured to choose too many. So they end up with not enough leisure and family time. Too many families don’t eat together, but on the run, in between those supposedly important activities. And then there is fast-paced social media.

Talk about not hurrying through lunches. When my wife and I were in Italy in 2002, we discovered “reposo,” meaning “rest period.” Most businesses, shops and restaurants close daily from about 1 to 3 pm. Why? So the Italians could slow down and take a break, whether that meant a leisurely lunch with friends—and vino—or a nap at home. Yet the Italian workers still manage to get things done.

Hurry and worry are connected. When we are in a hurry, it seems our susceptibility to worry increases several fold. When you are juggling too many things, it’s natural to worry about something falling through the cracks between your nervous fingers and hitting the ground called trouble. Even if things are going badly, with no relief in sight, you do not have to worry, but just take what comes with the calm attitude that “This too will pass,” and “Thank heavens things are not as bad as they could be.” Remember, things could always be worse; therefore, seek some consolation that whatever you are enduring, you will somehow get through, with or seemingly without God’s help, and live to enjoy another day.

To worry is to doubt. And what good comes from doubt? It definitely doesn’t permit you to enjoy your days. Doubt generates worry, if not also hurry. As best you can, let go, let be, and enjoy your life.