Slow and Steady – Life isn’t so Short

Life is short – that’s what I’ve always been led to believe. However, as I’ve grown older, and the more I have done with my life, I realise just how long it is. I’m now in my early fifties, and I guess at this point, one starts to reflect more than before. As I look back, I see all the achievements alongside a fair share of mistakes. I believe I’ve been smart enough to learn from the majority and try not to have too many regrets.

I’ve never been one to sit still for long. I become fidgety and impatient that I could be doing more with my day, but over the last couple of years, I’ve told myself to slow down and enjoy the moment. It really hit me last year when I was hiking in the Dolomites in Italy. Every time I travel, I’ve always been on an urgent scramble to pack as much into the day as I could, seeing and experiencing all I can physically and mentally absorb each minute. It was only on the last day of our holiday in Italy in 2024 that my wife pleaded with me, ‘Please, can we stop over there and soak up the scenery for a bit?’

There was an idyllic log cabin that served as a restaurant in the middle of a beautiful meadow filled with flowers of every colour without another building in sight. Every horizon commanded spectacular views of the mountains. At first, I was reluctant to pause until I looked into her eyes and then back to the surroundings seeing what she saw; the peaceful paradise we’d stumbled across and the serenity it provided. We ordered a delicious goulash with sublime dumplings and breathed in the fresh air, listening to the gentle breeze and the tinkling of cattle bells.

It wasn’t the first time I had been reminded to slow down. When we were in Hong Kong, I was taking photo after photo and as I looked over and saw her exasperated expression, it dawned on me how much I was viewing life through the lens and so little attention was being paid to the holiday and her. She deserves a medal sometimes for putting up with me. While she is the first to admit that we have incredible adventures around the world, she has also brought my attention to how much I am also missing by not slowing down.

These days, I make a conscious effort not to race through life. Even with some of the smallest day-to-day moments I would have once considered a waste of time, I stop and ask myself: am I happy right now? And if the answer is honestly yes, then I am not wasting my time. Because here’s the thing, if I’m happy, and I’m not being inconsiderate to others, that’s the key to life, I think. To take it a bit easier and not be in such a frantic rush to reach the finish line and complete tasks that most of the time, probably didn’t even matter.

Life may seem short, but when you take it slow and steady, you realise just how much beauty, meaning, and joy there really is to take in – if only you stop long enough to notice.

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