Do you remember that time when you were so hungry? You were so hungry that you couldn’t wait to devour into whatever was sitting in front of you. Maybe it was a steak. Or a hamburger. Or perhaps a steaming, hot pizza straight from the oven. Your mouth was salivating and you could not wait to dig in.
The first bite was glorious. As was the second. You could likely say the same for the tenth, fiftieth, and two-hundredth. Dinner was amazing, and you were still hungry. Tearing through morsel after morsel, your appetite could not be sated. That is, until you stopped eating 20 minutes later. At this point you came to the conclusion that you had seriously over-eaten–over-eaten to the point that loosening your belt buckle wasn’t going to help. The only thing that would help was time, and lots of it. Puking was another option, although you hated for all of that good food to traverse that which it had already traveled. Food is intended to operate solely on a one-way street.
The next day you likely proclaimed, “I won’t do that again.” And you probably did well for a time. And a few months down the road, you doubtlessly fell into the same temptation, seeing all sorts of wonderful food as an answer to a seemingly empty stomach. We’ve all done this once or twice, to say the least.
Sometimes we see all sorts of great and satisfying things in front of us and can’t help but try to take it all. We do this with more than just food.
Have you ever considered your schedule? How often do we slow down to think, “Am I going to fast? Should I be doing this? Am I killing myself over something insignificant?”
Like eating too much, I think we involve ourselves in too much, generating a sense of artificial busyness, precluding ourselves from doing the best things in life. You see, we’ve become too busy to realize that we are missing out on so much. The only time we realize the need to slow down is after our tasks and chores are done, and our bodies ‘crash,’ simply asking for rest.
So for me, I think I’m going to eat more slowly. And I think I’m going to slow down in life as well. At least take a few pit-stops along the way and savor the experiences and reassess the things I do, contemplating whether they are the best things to be doing.

Flash Flash.
My left blinker churned on and off as I waited for the turn signal. Two lights cast shadows of my head against the ceiling of my car. I squinted to avoid the glare emanating from my rearview mirror.
The light turned green and I turned onto a two-laned country road. The lights behind me crept closer as I drove along. And in an instant, the lights jerked over the double-yellow line and soon screamed past me. As I saw the taillights, I realized a Camaro had left me in its dust.
Screeech. A sharp turn in the road led to an abrupt change in driving styles for the Camaro. I quickly caught up to it and tailed it as we crossed some railroad tracks.
Varooom. I watched as the red taillamps got smaller and smaller. They disappeared altogether as the road twisted to and fro.
What’s that I see? But one Camaro sitting at a red light. How ironic?
Squeal. And there goes the Camaro again. Over the hill and through the woods, to the next red light it went. And so I drove, and so I caught up once again.
We waited at the light for a moment, only for the light to turn green again. And once again, the Camaro flew down the road, feigned by darkness as I fell behind.
What is that I see again? Is that the same Camaro? Waiting at another red light? Why yes, yes it is. It’s the same Camaro waiting to gun it again.
Five miles later I had completely kept pace with a car that could destroy mine on the track. And we both arrived at the same time.
The Camaro was in a hurry to wait. And so they worked hard, drove fast, and took long, frustrating breaks at stoplights. I was slow and steady, and although I too had to wait at lights, my waiting wasn’t as severe as theirs.
How often do we work so hard and fast that we end up just waiting to use what we’ve worked so hard for? Do we waste our energy hurriedly doing things that could have waited?
So I ask you, “Are you in such a hurry to wait?”