Shootin' it Straight - Slow Motion

The family and I made the arduous journey to Fayette Mall recently at the request of a child for their birthday. (I'm in talks with my lawyer to remove that child from the will over dragging me into the mall) Aside from the normal montage of teenage nonsense and generational judgment dished out while strolling the mall I took note of one distinct trend. In the latter days of January, most stores had a wide array of shorts and summer wear on the prominent display racks. With months left on the docket that will require a light jacket in the mornings, these retailers are pushing summer dresses. It's not exclusive to the mall or clothing chains in general. It's the nature of the beast. 

 We as a society are bent on pushing forward to the next thing as quickly as possible. We see it with seasonal changes such as those mentioned. We witness it with every holiday when retailers tear down Christmas decor to replace it with Valentines Day merchandise the day following. We are in large part guilty of it in our personal life, as we charge headlong from one landmark birthday to the next at a frantic pace. We find ourselves forever in high gear searching for what's next. We fast forward through to the highlights so frequently we miss massive chunks of the here and now. I would implore each of us to slow it all down. Enjoy the moments. Take each high and low for what it is but don't speed through them. The next big thing can wait til it comes naturally without the need to artificially rush it along. We only get so many summer days. There is a limited number of days to stare out a window over a snowy field. One day that fishing rod whipping that cast will be the last one. You'll take that left down that lazy gravel road on a Thursday never knowing it'll be the last turn. The world moves fast enough without our unneeded prodding of it. 

 I am not ancient, unless you ask my kids, but I am aged enough to understand that this downhill side moves at a rapid pace. Life's markers start to blur as the years pile up and separating one specific event from another takes a few moments of sorting. Slow it all down. Let each event have its own space on the time-line. Allow the world to drift along at its own leisurely pace. Ignore the shorts and tank tops they try to sell you in January. There is plenty of life you live every day.