Important Lesson From A Cop: Slow Down, Pay Attention

I won’t forget his parting words to me… “Slow Down. Pay Attention.”

There it was again. The heed I have previously ignored so many times in my life. Not just with regards to my driving (I have my dad’s genes to thank for my lead foot :)), but with regards to my living. I don’t slow down and next thing I look up and my youngest is three and the little “baby chubs” he previously carried around his limbs and face have melted away. Four months have passed since I’ve talked to my mom and then she’s gone forever. Just like that. God knows how many other countless gifts I’ve missed in my hurrying and busyness.

Not slowing down and I miss being fully present to the gift in this moment rather than striving and driving toward a future gift I think will be more fulfilling. “Work now, play later,” “Do what others are unwilling to do now so you can do what you want to do later,” I justified as the reasons I saw success in my career and businesses. But at what cost? What if it were possible to have what you really want simultaneous? It is. But it requires slowing down. Saying no to more. And yes with deliberation to just a little… the little you decide matters the most.

No surprise to discover the Chinese join two characters to form a single pictograph for busyness: heart and killing. “The heart is the place the busy life exacts its steepest toll. We let ourselves be consumed by the things that feed the ego but starve the soul.” Mark Buchanan

That cop was an angel sent to remind me, “Slow down. Pay attention.” What about you? What reminder might you need?