there is no rush
By Amanda Briody
there is no rush to finish, no rush to figure it all out. self-imposed, or even societally-imposed, timelines often cause unnecessary suffering. suffering because we did not meet an expectation or life did not meet our expectations. an expectation we ultimately placed upon our own shoulders. often leading to frustration, disappointment, dissatisfaction, sadness, temporary insanity, you name it.
i have learned this the hard way so many times. thinking, wishing, hoping things happened sooner. comparing my progress to others. comparison. the thief of joy. more unnecessary suffering. feeling all those feelings when the time came and the result didn’t.
but you know what? fuck the timeline. there is no rush. you do not have to rush to fulfill your end of year goals. you do not have to rush to figure out your resolutions. now is not the time to rush. now is the time for stillness and reflection. for sitting in a quiet pool of your own experiences and transforming them into wisdom. now is the time to be slow and still. to be a snail, a turtle, an oyster. to let the wave of each moment rise, happen and fade away to make room for the next. to curl inward, assess and repair. to filter and make a pearl out of your grit. to be in it. now is the time to be in it. to savor and relish the flavor, instead of wishing it tasted differently. instead of wishing you had more. more time, experience, skills, money, friends, clothes, touch, love etc. you are already enough. you already do enough. you already have enough.
take a moment and evaluate. dig deep, be vulnerable. what unreasonable expectations have you placed on yourself? have you let society place on you? how are these expectations causing unnecessary suffering? how are they dimming your light? how are they keeping you from blossoming into the most vibrant, alive and present version of yourself. and i don’t mean this as spiritual bypassing. because sitting with pain, sitting with grief, sitting with frustration - even these moments are opportunities to be vibrantly fully alive.
because to be alive is to feel it all.
give yourself permission to let go of time. to allow time to pass. to expand time by expanding your breath. turn up the volume on the present moment. and feel the life inside you. the breath inside you. the heartbeat in side you. drink in through your senses. there is no rush.
with presence, we wake up. awoken, we experience awe. in awe, we are grateful. so that gratitude becomes an act of presence rather than an act of reflection. and in the present, there is no rush.