Slowing Down

Yesterday, I turned my right ankle while mowing the lawn (on a hill). It hurt like a sumbitch, but the swelling is down and it looks to be no more than a mild sprain.

For the rest of the day I tried staying off of it as much as possible but I did have to make a trip to the supermarket as we were out of some important staple food stuffs. The wife was busy with the kids and I tend to do less impulse buying when I shop. So I sucked it up, wrapped up the ankle and headed out with my grocery list.

Even though I could put weight on my right foot, it was sore. And my overall pace decreased by at least 50%. In other words, I had to take it slow. And I did.

From getting out of the car to walking the aisles with my cart to scanning through the self-serve checkout and bagging my stuff I took it slow. I was forced by a minor injury to relax and take it easy. We always tell ourselves that we will stop and savor the moment or that we will be more observant of everything around us. But we're always in a rush to get home, to go somewhere else or to make it to the next appointment.

We tend to forget how amazing life and the world around us can be. We don't realize that even as mundane an event as a trip to the supermarket could be all the more enjoyable if we just relax and take it easy. It's difficult psychologically to make yourself slow down.

And our lives zoom past at the speed of light until we stop one day, look back and say "where did all the time go?".

When I got home, I gave the wife a hug and a kiss (a real one, not a peck on the cheek) and played with my kids (though this probably didn't help my ankle any).

Next time you find yourself in a situation where you don't really have to rush. Don't. Try slowing down. You might actually enjoy yourself more.

/soapbox.

YIPS from Steve-O: Now this is just me talking here, but I like to get out the pipe and fill the bowl with a homebrew mix of Lipton's sweet tea mix, together with a little pesto and a couple of grains of Scott's crabgrass pesticide. A couple of long drags on that, and I can get the lawn done in about, ohh, five minutes.

Meanwhile, just down the street, live the REAL lawn care and garden experts, with the pictures to prove it. Rather hatefully, Sarah is having quite the successful year for lupines, no mean feat in central VA.