"There is more to life than increasing its speed."
Krishnamurti
We need to learn how to reject life's surface pressures in order to find the subtler and
deeper pleasures in life such as the hint of a smile on another person's face, how the sun
feels nicer walking on this side of the street versus that, or the rippling of the wind
through a field. We live in such a stressful age. Noise, pressure and demands come at us
from all sides. There is never any let-up, no matter where we turn. Home, work, even
commuting in between are filled with stress and tension. We get caught in the
turmoil...rushing in and out of each other's lives. How quickly the smiles fade as we pass
each other by.
A common response against this onslaught from the outside is a sort of continual talking
to ourselves, planning what we're going to do or say, admonishing ourselves for those
things that we have or have not done. Our minds are never still enough to hear the sound
of wind or the rain. To avoid drowning in the world's noise, we drown ourselves in our
own. The unceasing inner chatter only drains and stresses us out even more. We tie
ourselves into tighter and tighter knots, going in vicious circles. We tense up against
tension which only makes us more tense. We react against this continual bombardment with a
kind of chronic tightness, always preoccupied, never unwinding or being fully present in
our life. How rarely we experience the tranquil calming of nature, the soothing silence of
the deep woods, the magic of another person or quiet moment.
If your life were to end today, what memories are you making?