Have you noticed how people are in a hurry these days? Eager to get onto the next thing, and impatient when we have to wait. Why is this? What's the rush? Well I think there's a couple of different factors at play. For one, we've become more and more accustomed to getting things fast. Social media and the business world have heavily influenced this. Amazon packages arrive on your door step in two days time. Social media platforms use an infinite scroll to give us endless content. And dating apps make it finding a mate for accessible than ever. We've never been more digitally connected in human history than we are today. And yet, so many of us feel lonely and isolated. It seems this hurry culture is hurting instead of helping us.
There's a difference between instant and intentional. Would you rather eat a home cooked meal, or a microwaved bowl of ramen noodles? One option offers quality, the other convenience. To be intentional requires focus, and slowing down. Some things call for urgency, but most don't. Unless the house is on fire, do you really need to hurry? What if hurrying through our days is actually making us more anxious, not less. When we hurry it usually does the opposite of what we want it to. Instead of making things better, it can make them worse. Maybe this has happened to you. You're running late to work, so you hurry and accidentally lock your keys in the car. Now you've got two problems, you're late for work and your locked out of your car. Adding more stress. Faster does not always mean better. Our world wants us to believe you can have what you want with the push of a button. The idea of delayed gratification seems to be an antiquated approach in our fast paced world.
So how do we fight this hurry culture? By being present. Our brains have a hard time being anxious and curious at the same time. To be curious requires observing your surroundings. This is also the beginning of many mindful practices. Studies have shown mindfulness helps you be more productive. Australian researchers discovered our brain pathways become more efficient, and our capacity for attention increases when we practice mindfulness. The phrase multitasking first appeared in the mid-1960s to describe the concurrent performance of several jobs done by a computer. It referred to the computer switching back and forth between two tasks, not performing them simultaneously (a common misconception). When you focus on two things at once, it's like having chameleon eyes. Your attention goes in two different directions, making it hard to focus on either one. . How do you smell the roses if you're rushing by them? I believe hurry culture is hurting us. Expecting instant results is making us more irritable and impatient with each other. But if we slow down just a tad, then maybe we can greet one another with curiosity and kindness.

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