Chasing The Cut Off

Each day seems to go by faster than the day before. I constantly feel as if I am pushing to get things done, running against time. There never seems to be enough. Life is so much like an ultramarathon. We plan, chart, train, and pack all our supplies but yet heat, rain, injury and other unplanned difficulties may arise. They weigh us down to the point where we are chasing the cut off. Living this way is a direct path to anxiety and depression with overall fatigue and exhaustion.

As I am growing older, there is a strong pull to slow down in all areas of my life. To try to be present and enjoy each moment. Sounds simple, its not. We live in a world that is in constant motion. Fast motion. Technology has made it more difficult to let go and just be still and quiet. To slow our breathing and just be. There are days I think of throwing my phone out the window because I am so tired of feeling tied to it and then I realize I’ve just spent 30 min on YouTube watching dog videos. I am easily distracted and our culture seems to encourage it.

Fulton Sheen has a quote that I read recently that says.. “You think you are having a good time, but time is really the greatest obstacle in the world to happiness, not only because it makes you take pleasures successively, but also because you are never really happy until you are unconscious of the passing of time.”

It is time itself that we hold onto so tightly that we lose sight of what is important. From my experience, the best runs were the ones where I wore no watch, had no phone and just ran. That is the reason I love trail so very much. I lose sense of time when I slow down and connect. It is when I lose track of time that I have felt the most content and joyful.

One small step.. Set aside time alone each day. No tech. 10-20min. Be still and just breathe.