The point of not hurrying everywhere, all the time

April 24th, 2023

Where will you end up when you drive like a maniac breaking all the speed limits and all the traffic rules — be it in your car or on your bike? Where will you end up walking so fast in a slalom around others or like a bulldozer just going through them? Where will you end up after pushing your way to the front of the queue? Where will you end up after cursing and swearing the whole trip on a bus or tram because it doesn't go fast enough and there are too many other passengers?

You will end up at the exact same place where you started your day.

You drove or walked or biked or pushed your way over kilometers and many other people, while risking your and their health and well-being to finish your day at the same place as you started. People can drive hundreds of kilometers a day and not get anywhere. People can walk tens of kilometers a day and not get anywhere. What is worse — they might not even take notice of their surroundings as they move, constantly in a hurry. They might not even notice changing scenery or beauty that is to be found if only they would pay attention. I don't even want to mention not noticing other people — that would be too much to ask an average person.

“A donkey hitched to a post can walk a hundred miles a day but when you untie him, he will be at the exact same place” — I found this nice simile to describe this predicament I see every day everywhere I go in a book a read recently. Even on weekends, on Sunday mornings some people are rushing to get somewhere, probably to church or such. All that brings three questions to my mind — is time management so difficult to do that everything needs to be rushed? And is there a different way to exist in peace and harmony with the time we are given? And where exactly is everyone hurrying so much when in the end we find ourselves in the same spot and place?