Walk Slower

"Walk Slower" I would cringe every time I heard those words. Walking to me has often been about getting to a destination and every step was with that goal in mind. I always had an excuse for my fast-paced, head-down, purposeful stride.

"If we don't hurry we won't get a good seat." "If we walk slow, we'll miss the beginning." All excuses that. I thought, justified my rush to get nowhere. Many times the person walking with me would be my mother. I used to be impatient, as she would need to rest. While she rested, I would stand anxiously at her side, thinking about the loss of time that could have been spent walking. Little did I realize that the loss of time was actually the time I spent walking in my usual manner.

Mom would usually start a conversation as she rested. She would ask about the recent events of my life and share some of her memories from my childhood. Mom was also one to notice things, small things sometimes.

She would notice how the leaves of one tree would be greener than another’s. Most often, mom would notice people. One of her favorite things to do was to sit and watch people. She would wonder what was going through their minds in that exact moment as they passed by.

It is ironic that those things that I would often view, as an inconvenience, have become some of the things I would love to do again - walking slow and talking with my mother. I have found myself thinking, walking and living at a much slower pace in these last few weeks. I do not want to miss the "little things" in life. It is those "little things" that become the most important.

What are you missing as you hurry through life? Who do you need to go for a slow walk with?