Dash

My father used to say that if you are hurrying move slowly and with care. In that way, you can achieve more in a short period of time, avoid potential accidents and spare yourself from a lot of unnecessary stress. I believe this to be true. I experience it time after time. If I concentrate too much on getting there or do something on time, I ended up running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  Remember all those cooking programs where the candidates have to prepare three or four-course meal in a restricted amount of time? They fail when they lost focus. 

It reminds me of the time I was watching an episode of Expedition Robinson where two people tried to gather sea water using buckets with holes while standing on a narrow makeshift bridge consisted only of one bamboo pole. They had to lower the bucket, fill it with water and run to the other side of the bridge where a bigger container was waiting. Whoever fills the container first without falling down from the bridge will be the winner. The battle was between an athletic male and a skinny female model and everyone in the room thought the fight was over before it even begins. She was moving slowly, treading carefully, waiting for the bucket to be thoroughly filled before bringing it up while her opponent was dashing mad all over the place, running up and down barely waiting for his bucket to be full and because of this he often ended up with an empty bucket when he reached the other end of the pole which only fuelled his desire to hurry some more. In the end, it was the woman who won. Her rival fell off from the slippery bridge. His impatience rendered his triumph impossible and his mad attempts futile. 

I saw this happened countless of times with people in the same situation, they let themselves be consumed by the thought of limited time span and lost concentration often resulting in failure. Moral of the story: It’s okay to keep track of the time but whatever you are doing especially if it matters to the end result, do it carefully and steadily and you will see that you will achieve more…

Let me leave you with the wise words of Earl Monroe. He said: Just be patient. Let the game come to you. Don’t rush. Be quick, but don’t hurry.