Last night at dinner I caught myself shoving bite after bite of food into my mouth, chewing as fast as I could, gulping it down, and repeating until all my food was gone. Then I was sitting at the table watching my fam fam eat for the next 30 minutes plus because they were slowly enjoying each bite, chewing it well, swallowing delicately, setting their food/silverware down for a little break, talking, thinking, etc. What am I rushing for? I asked myself. There's nothing going on after dinner that I need to get to...there's no fastest-eater award...
The same thing happens when I'm walking. I'm always power-walking wherever I go. It's not because I'm late (if I were late it would be a good thing, but no. I'm usually painstakingly early because to me 5 minutes early is on time -- and that has been adapted from my 10 minute USA policy!). Sometimes it's because I'm excited to get somewhere, but more often than not it's just because that's how I walk
I think it's because I'm always looking to get to the next thing. It doesn't matter what it is, I just want to finish whatever I'm doing and move on. I think that's a really North American mindset in general. We're always trying to be more and more productive. But why? Many times the journey is as important as the destination! We miss out on so much because we're living in the future.
Chileans live in the present. Everything takes ten times longer than it needs to, but they enjoy so much more of life than we North Americans do. That's why they're late everywhere they go. They were busy enjoying what they were doing rather than preparing for the next activity. They walk SO slow because they're enjoying the commute by noticing their surroundings and conversing with their companions. When walking with them, I can take one step forward and two steps back and still be ahead. hahahhaa. Their meals take hourssss. I just can't get into the habit of actually setting my sandwich down to take an eating break. Once it's in my hands the only other place it goes is my stomach! But they talk and relate to each other over meals way more than we do. A lot of them buy only the food they need for the next day or two rather than stocking up.
Don't get me wrong, they're still aware of the future. This toma thing (Universities on strike nationwide), for example, is them preparing for their future. But while they're preparing for their future, they're enjoying their present. They're keeping things in perspective.
Matt 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
The same thing happens when I'm walking. I'm always power-walking wherever I go. It's not because I'm late (if I were late it would be a good thing, but no. I'm usually painstakingly early because to me 5 minutes early is on time -- and that has been adapted from my 10 minute USA policy!). Sometimes it's because I'm excited to get somewhere, but more often than not it's just because that's how I walk
I think it's because I'm always looking to get to the next thing. It doesn't matter what it is, I just want to finish whatever I'm doing and move on. I think that's a really North American mindset in general. We're always trying to be more and more productive. But why? Many times the journey is as important as the destination! We miss out on so much because we're living in the future.
Chileans live in the present. Everything takes ten times longer than it needs to, but they enjoy so much more of life than we North Americans do. That's why they're late everywhere they go. They were busy enjoying what they were doing rather than preparing for the next activity. They walk SO slow because they're enjoying the commute by noticing their surroundings and conversing with their companions. When walking with them, I can take one step forward and two steps back and still be ahead. hahahhaa. Their meals take hourssss. I just can't get into the habit of actually setting my sandwich down to take an eating break. Once it's in my hands the only other place it goes is my stomach! But they talk and relate to each other over meals way more than we do. A lot of them buy only the food they need for the next day or two rather than stocking up.
Don't get me wrong, they're still aware of the future. This toma thing (Universities on strike nationwide), for example, is them preparing for their future. But while they're preparing for their future, they're enjoying their present. They're keeping things in perspective.
Matt 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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