It's 8.30 in the morning. As I get into my costume, I bite into the piece of toast and swallow it quickly. Just then my phone beeps. My girlfriend Pouty Patel has sent me a lovely message. I smile and think of all the wonderful things I want to say to her. That's when my diary screams, "Stop wasting time, there is a lot to do." The appointment diary - my warden, my schedule, my master. I was a mere slave. 'I thought I controlled it, when did we switch roles'" I think to myself, as I gulp down the orange juice. No time to think though. Rush. Rush. So much to do. As I get into the lift, I implore it to move faster.
I jump into my car, and send a couple of messages while driving. It's called multi-tasking and I'm the king of it. The signal turns green but the car in front of me seems to be taking its own sweet time. I honk, honk and as I overtake it, I let out a couple of choicest words only to see the face of an apologetic, teary-eyed old woman. I want to say sorry but the diary goes rush, rush. So much to do. Meeting, meeting, lunch, gym, meeting, meeting.
It's six in the evening and after a day of meeting, lunch, meeting, I find myself sitting in my super sleuth, Patient Patel's office. "Why are you in such a rush, Confuscious?" he asks as I gulp down my cup of tea. "Well, the day is nearly over, and there is still so much to do," I reply. "And if he doesn't hurry up he will be left far behind "just like you!" screams my little black diary.
"Have you heard of the Japanese tea ritual?" he asks. "Not really," I reply as I send out an important message. "Well, it's a tea ritual that takes a couple of hours," he smiles. "A couple of hours for a cup of tea?" I balk. "Well, the purpose behind it being to slowdown and enjoy the beauty of the simple and mundane things in life and to actually savour them. Its taste, its smell, the sound around you." Just as I am getting interested in his conversation, my diary interrupts, "Don't listen to the dinosaur, Confuscious. Look around - it's a changed world. It's the fast track we are living in. Fast food, fast gadgets and faster cars. And if your not fast enough you"ll be left behind." The voice of Patel comes in again, "You can't always be in fast forward, sometimes you have to learn how to use the pause button as well. Why the constant rush, bro?" he smiles.
{{/usCountry}}"Have you heard of the Japanese tea ritual?" he asks. "Not really," I reply as I send out an important message. "Well, it's a tea ritual that takes a couple of hours," he smiles. "A couple of hours for a cup of tea?" I balk. "Well, the purpose behind it being to slowdown and enjoy the beauty of the simple and mundane things in life and to actually savour them. Its taste, its smell, the sound around you." Just as I am getting interested in his conversation, my diary interrupts, "Don't listen to the dinosaur, Confuscious. Look around - it's a changed world. It's the fast track we are living in. Fast food, fast gadgets and faster cars. And if your not fast enough you"ll be left behind." The voice of Patel comes in again, "You can't always be in fast forward, sometimes you have to learn how to use the pause button as well. Why the constant rush, bro?" he smiles.
{{/usCountry}}As I step out of his office and into my car, his question plays in my head, "why the rush bro?" And the strange thing is I can't quite remember why. I can't quite remember the last time I paused and just savoured the moment. I look at my diary and gently ease it away from me. She looks at me accusingly, "Don't you dare. Remember, I'm the one that's brought you this far..." I look at her and argue, "But I want to pause now and then, I want to have conversations, enjoy my tea, linger on the pages of a book." "You push me away and you will be left behind, everyone else will go far ahead!" she smiles triumphantly. I pause. I hesitate. Her smile gets wider. I bring her in. She sits on her throne right back. I am a slave once again. She screams, "Don't dare try that with me, now run - we're getting late!"