This weekend I’ve spent plenty of time kayaking on a lazy river with my family. It has been a long time since I’ve been on a boat of any kind, and the first thing I wanted to do when I got on was to paddle everywhere I could. Near and far, always going fast.
It was like a contest to see how far and how fast I could go.
Then, something happened… instead of being in contest mode I switched to chill-out mode.
I paddled less, and just floated and enjoyed more.
In the quiet floating time I could think, reflect, enjoy, and see things I wasn’t seeing when I went fast.
I’m reminded of my job search, where I was paddling frantically week after week.
It’s hard to tell a job seeker to slow down and relax, because they feel like they are drowning, and have just a few moments of oxygen left.
But I wish I would have slowed down.
I wish I would have taken time to “think, reflect, enjoy, and see things I wasn’t seeing when I went fast.”
There’s more to life than being in a rat race. So many people I meet have had unfulfilling careers in jobs they wouldn’t want to go back to, but they are anxiously trying to get back to unhappiness, because it carried a regular paycheck and some false sense of security.
They paddle fast, and miss all of the opportunities to change their life, and reflect on what is really meaningful, and make decisions that will lead them to where they really want, and deserve, to be.
Unfortunately the panic weighs for than the need to retool, but if you can, please take some time today, and tomorrow, and for the next few months, and slow down, and really figure out where you want to head.
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