Thoughts on Time, Part III

I am opposed to always being in a hurry. Now, I know that there are times when time is of the essence. There are situations in which we must move quickly and cut corners. If you are a runner, or a stock car driver, in fact, your whole life is about going faster and getting things accomplished more quickly. But for most people, most of the time, and even for everyone some of the time, we should slow down.

One of the ways that we need to get calm and slower is in our conversation. We are always trying to "cut to the chase" (a phrase that is completely over-used by everyone- including myself). We have power lunches and "stand-up" meetings because we do not want to take the time to talk about things. We are too busy, in too big a hurry.

Here is one practical way to change the world. If you do what I suggest, you and everyone you know will have to slow down, smell the roses and enjoy life.

Talk.

It is too simple to be profound. But that's all there is to it. Have a conversation. Spend some time shooting the breeze. Sit on the porch with a friend and see what happens. And do not short change the conversation. Do not fall into the trap of inserting the yadda-yadda-yadda. Tell the whole story. Give details. Do not worry about how long the story takes. Enjoy the conversation.

Here are a few suggestions for enjoying time, conversation, family and friends.

• Turn off the television during dinner. Talk about what happened during the day. Play the good thing, bad thing game. Each person tells one good thing and one bad thing that happened during the day.
• Next time, instead of watching a video, play a board game. Talk, laugh and spend time together.
• Do not go to the movies, but instead go bowling or roller skating or miniature golfing. Instead of watching someone else's life you will be living your own and creating great stories for the next story session.
• Practice giving details. Don't gloss over the finer points. Share colors, smells and sounds with others. Bring your listeners to the place where the events took place.
• In the evening, before turning in, discuss the events of the day. Review what happened. Evaluate things. Then spend some time planning for tomorrow.