A lot of you are new to my page so I thought every so often it would be nice to repost some of my favorites from the early days of The Weaving Wisdom Project…the days when there were just a handful of you reading along. This post was part of series from my sabbatical last summer in Scotland.
Scotland Day 2 & 3…Lessons on the West Highland Way
I learned an important lesson today. It doesn’t matter which direction you are going, it’s critical to not take a wrong step. On the trail, one wrong step can send you home. I came close to finding that out this morning when I turned my ankle on a tree root.
It hurt. But I kept going. I told myself to be more careful, to watch where I was going, to take it slow.
Here is the other important lesson…going slow isn’t the same thing as taking it slow. Going slow is just that. It’s a yellow light but with no regard to the forthcoming red light. It’s a suggestion, a passing piece of advice. You can choose to take it or not. Going slow is a rote behavior that doesn’t take one bit of thoughtfulness. It’s a reflex to momentarily shift behavior only to speed back up when you pass the police officer.
But, taking it slow is a different thing altogether. Taking it slow suggests some level of thoughtfulness. It’s an adjustment of the way we think and the way we react. It’s a shift of perspective, a mindful approach to the things you do and the ways you move.
If I take it slow, I am most likely finding enjoyment in the process of slowing down. More likely than not, I am paying closer attention to the world around me. I’m not waiting to speed up or catch up or level up. Instead, I am making a conscious effort to NOT increase the rate of anything that I am doing. In fact, taking it slow shows a different kind of value altogether.
Consider this from the perspective of my sore ankle. If I just started to go slow, the only change in my behavior is the speed at which I travel. But if I take it slow, I become mindful of each step, of the ground beneath my feet, of the slope of the land. I consider the slipperiness of the rocks from the mountain streams. I pay attention to the sensations underfoot. I breathe. I listen.
Taking it slow means that I am in partnership with the trail, seeking to have a deeper conversation with the world I am blessed to inhabit. Sure it will take a little more time but the return that comes from proper slowness changes something deep within our hearts. It heals us in more ways than we can even imagine.
There is a saying in the military — Navy Seals. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.