Take it Easy- Go Slow!

By Manoj J Lekhi

 

Another Realization I had in the Dandi Yatra was that slower we go in life, the more details we can see in life.

The slower we go, the more pauses we give, we will be enjoying the process much more than if we had to go fast.

For eg: if I would walk slowly, I see more details in life, I can see the small insects, the different shades of colors. I can notice the change of weather, environment, coolness, warmness, hot. If I were to go fast I would have missed these details and nuances. 

There is a saying that ‘God is in details’,

 A painter sees details in his paintings and experiences God.

 A musician s feels the details in his music and experiences God. 

A sculptor experiences God while making his piece of art !

God is in details and if we go slow in life we can observe, notice, feel and experience all the details.

This I noticed when I was asking for rides and lifts on the way. I noticed that people who were going very fast were hesitant to stop. In fact I would say 99% of them did not stop because they were going fast, their mind must have been fast, they must have been wanting to reach some destination fast, and probably they wanted to complete everything fast. 

In Fastness there are no Details. It’s just activity after activity after activity and therefore you miss the details and miss out God.

In Slowness, there are lots of details. If you were able to walk slow, you would be able to watch even the muscles move.

Anything done slowly will increase the awareness and we will be able to notice more and more details and experience God in the process.

The people who were going slowly on the bikes or vehicles, they had all the time and would invariably stop and give me a ride. In fact when I noticed this, anyone who was going fast, I stopped asking them also, and if there were two people on the bike then too I did not ask. I would only ask the person who was alone and was going slow and invariably they would stop and give me a lift.

So my suggestion to all who are reading this article is, keep more and more gaps between your activities during the day and keep more and more pauses in your activities during the day.

Increasing the pauses would increase the gaps and you will experience tremendous Joy in the process.  We will be able to notice more and more beautiful nuances of life.

 Lets bathe slowly, brush slowly, do our asanas slowly, go to our office and do your work with a peaceful mind. Slowness will add to your calmness between each activity. Lets keep many gaps and experiment this for 66 days and see what happens.

In fact , just reflect and see  everything in nature  is gradual. Nothing happens in a burst.

The sun rises gradually, sets gradually, and that also goes with the moon as well. The tree also grows gradually and we too grow gradually. Everything is Gradual.

Once in a while yes, there is a storm, there is a burst, there is a great downpour but that lasts for very less time and that is also to be remembered.Sometimes we need to do things in a burst and that is also very important energy .

In short let’s use the the 95-5 principle -most of the times (95%) take it easy, go slow and you will invariably find God because “God is Experienced In Details”