What thoughts passed through your mind today? Random points like: Should I drive to work or brave the tube? Do we have any milk left in the fridge?
Now FREEZE… don’t move a muscle.
You may find that’s easier said than done…because despite your body staying still, your thoughts keep running wildly through your minds. The Question is: Do you have time to be that busy?
You can unfreeze now 🙂
By freezing our bodies, we suddenly become aware at just how busy our minds are, and how difficult it is to slow them down. But the harsh reality is: if we don’t learn how to slow down, we WILL miss Life’s most important moments. I have recently learnt that Life is far too short to be that busy.
A few months back I was leaving a client’s office after a presenting a new program on conversation. I felt good … for about one Nano second until my mind started wondering if I was convincing enough, and soon my inner voice started speaking in my teenage daughter’s voice: ‘OMG, the dog can do better.’
Oddly, I got this insatiable urge to Google the scientific views of conversation to add to my credibility. I looked down at my phone and instantly got lost in the Search Engine as I crossed a very busy street, only quickly glancing at the lights to make sure I can cross. But the problem with lights, is they are constantly changing, and change it did as I continue to look down at phone.
A very loud HONK broke me from my thoughts and when I looked up I saw a motorcycle coming straight at me at super speed.
Anyone heard of the fight / flight response? I did neither…. I froze!
And as I stood there, completely unable to move, my mind finally slowed down as I thought about my family, my husband, my baby girl, and how I have totally let them all down. Every promise I made to spend more time together… just as soon the workload eased, was about to be broken. Because I knew that I was about to be hit. The question was only: how hard?
I distinctly remember the feeling of the bike crashing on-top of me. I felt the weight of the motorcycle, then the weight of the rider, until everything went black.
By the time someone got to me, the streets were blocked and 2 ambulances were on the way. It was at moment that I realised I was physically OK, BOOM another crushing blow hit me, a feeling of shame
My shame wasn’t seeded in the fact that I was looking at my phone while crossing the street although it should have been.
And it wasn’t fuelled in the crowds of people staring at me.
I was ashamed that it took a motorcycle to strike me to slow down & look up. Because It occurred to me that if I was too busy to look up when crossing the road…. What else have I been missing?
What may you be missing? Do we really have time to be that busy?
I’m not going to lie to you, this isn’t the first time I had a brush with death. There was that time in India when I was almost savaged by a black panther, the brief encounter with the Mafia in Sisley, and most dangerously the time in London when I stood on the left side of the escalator.
You see, the way I walked onto the street that day was exactly how I was walking through life – one foot in front of the other, always busy, and looking down…
· Sorry, I’ve gotta go – No time to chat
· Come on, Let’s go, we’re late
· I can’t join, I’ve got a million things to do
That attitude almost cost me my life. Not just literally, but also by losing all the precious moments that I was too busy to enjoy.
I know it’s easier said than done, so let’s take this challenge:
Next time your life seems relentless and exhausting…… FREEZE!
· Look up at the people in your life. Are you paying enough attention?
· Look up and listen to their words. Can you hear what they are saying to you?
· Look up and remember to look up… life is too short to be that busy