Slow Down

When you glance at this page, you'll see a lot of words. Your first instinct is to skim and find the meat of what I've written. I'm not offended; I (Liz) do the same thing all the time. If it's more than a paragraph it's too many words. But - just for a minute - slow down with me. The world won't wait for you, I know...but you can afford a few minutes. It doesn't feel that way in the crazy, microwave-mentality generation we live in. In the time I take to type these words - and you take to read them - people will be born, will die, will find their fortune, or maybe even lose everything. But what is that to me? What does it matter if my nose is eternally to the grind stone, but I lose my passion? Lose what I love? I sell coffee for a living, but that isn't where I find joy.  I get really caught up in the day to day rush or life: my striving to provide for my tiny family. I want to be the best I can be at my job, therefore I am the queen of multitasking. (Okay...maybe not QUEEN...just the princess. *wink*) It's how I operate. I am good at my job and I do get satisfaction from a well run rush of coffee crazed people. (Don't be offended, coffee addict. I'm of of those crazies, too!) But, that satisfaction rings a little hollow. I navigate home through the traffic that is new to me, I feel like a pro. But I'm still just tired. I find some real satisfaction in making dinner. (Who knew I was a good cook?) Still, that shine of success doesn't last. I've ignored my real passion.

Sometimes, in the rush of life, I forget the joy of creating. But when I pause - when I stop to smell the roses in my own mind and pour out on paper the things I find among the petals...that's when I come alive. I rediscover the passion I drop when I get swept away in the rush of "success."

So, let me ask you: when was the last time you were really alive? When was the last time you created something? And how much longer before you pause and pick up your passion again? I promise, it's worth the time.

Photo credits:

Clock - via Photo Pin

Rose - via Photo Pin