What's the Rush?

Today is Sunday; a day of rest. I slept late, then went to a recreational “fun” ride. Less than a mile into the ride a lone rider shoots off the front of the pack. He looks back a few times as if to say, “hey come on” and honestly I felt sad for him. I kept my thoughts to myself (ok until now) but I had to wonder if he was in that big of a rush to finish something “fun” he must be missing out on a lot in life.

We didn’t see him again on our ride, but I noticed that thousands of Christmas lights/decorations and YES even a Christmas tree had appeared on the landscape of this route! I had to check my watch—did I miss Thanksgiving? Why I ask, in a nation where we spend millions on exercise, wrinkle creams, and supplements to look and live longer do we try to rush through the journey that is life? Even Starbucks can’t put up with waiting in their own lines; they now provide you with individually wrapped instant coffee packets perfect for mixing in the car as you speed to work.

I’d like to go back to the time period when October owned Halloween, Thanksgiving was practically an entire season of its own and Christmas only happened once a year. I don’t want to go shopping the day after Christmas for the Next Year—next year hasn’t even arrived yet…. If we keep progressing at the current rate we might just as well yank that groundhog out his hole in December, put a Halloween costume on him and let him lead the Macy’s Day parade.

I’m not against going fast on a ride or enjoying a good Hammerfest, but just sometimes I think we need to take a turn down that road you’ve never ridden, go slowly up the hill, stop to enjoy the view, take the time to finish a conversation with a fellow rider. Slow down and enjoy the journey …you just might find your bicycle leading to places you’ve never seen, with people you may have never had the chance to meet in a world that is, at least for that ride, not in a rush to get to tomorrow.