This is Not a Race – Stop Running Past the Scenery

Last year, at the very end of the spring semester one of my advisees stopped by my office with her mom to finish a little bit of paperwork. They had just packed up the last of her things from the residence hall and were on the way home for the summer. We chatted about her summer plans and her newly chosen major in Urban Studies and Planning. She was thrilled that, due to her stellar scores on advanced placement exams and some college courses she took in high school, she would be able to graduate early. Her mom casually commented that she should also think about staying in school for the full four years and exploring internships, minors or maybe even a double major. She indicated that there was no rush.

Early this summer, the same student came to visit me. She will be a junior next year, and is still on track to graduate early. Except —

she doesn’t want to. She has an internship she is thrilled to start, and is active in several organizations on campus. She ran her first marathon last year. She now understands the merit of not to rushing to the to the next thing so fast.

In reflecting on this, I was reminded how quick I can be to wish time away. After this week, I’ll be on vacation! or, I’ve just got to get through the last push to finish writing this book and then I can take a break or, Once the dentist appointment is over, I can meet my friend for lunch. Then I look back over my life and realize how quickly time is passing, how in so many ways things that happened ten years ago feel like yesterday. So I  take a deep breath and remind myself that there is good stuff in that week before vacation, too. That I will never revisit that exact thought, those same characters in that very moment again.  That the dentist really is … well, okay — maybe I’ll still wish that hour away. But you get the point, time passes quickly enough. No need to rush it along.

What are you slowing down to savor this week? Let me know in the comments below. (And if you don’t get my blog post in your inbox every week, you can also sign up for that, in the cheerful orange box below.)

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2 thoughts on “This is Not a Race – Stop Running Past the Scenery”

  1. It’s amazing how much more fun you have when you shift out of “check-list-mode” into “smell-the-flowers-mode.” This past weekend, rather than spending 4 hours on the road alone for a 5 hour event I took the family along and we spent the entire weekend in DC, seeing sights, eating, and taking pictures.

    1. marychrisescobar

      So true! I also love how when you slow down you can find little “mini-vacations” in places close to home that you’ve visited before.

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