Sometimes it can seem like our days are overtaken with haste. We hurry here, we hurry there, we attempt to do too many things, and in our haste we make foolish decisions, and miss out on the things that are sitting quietly to one side, waiting to bless us. I think we mothers can sometimes be the worst at this. Our days can become so busy as we try to cram too many things into them. As well as feeding the children, homeschooling them, sorting out the quarrels, taking them to soccer practice and music lessons, cleaning the house, making the meals etc etc, we also want to achieve our own agendas. And bit by bit our days become rushed and harried.
But if we can learn to slow down, and resist the temptation to cram our days with busyiness, then we will discover the real joys of parenting – the quiet little cuddles on the sofa, an extra story at bedtime, the unrushed preparation of meals, a simple game with one of the children….
When Mark Buchanan was asked to name his biggest regret he answered, “Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, like in the wake of all the rushing… through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.”
It reminds me of a quote I have used often – “Wherever you are, be all there.”