Celebrate slowness . . .

Have you ever seen a video of a sloth moving?  It's wonderful to watch.  Every movement is careful and deliberate and exceedingly SLOW . . .   I had not known this simple biological fact.  Sloths move slowly.  These days I am a sloth.  Since I am able to do almost everything with my walker at this stage most friends consider I may be healed.  Well, I'm not.  Although it's true I am mending it is truly at a sloth's pace. There is nothing I can do in "ordinary time" or rhythm.  I am learning that the world moves at a clip.  My underwater speed may seem charming to those watching me negotiate a curb with the walker.  When I stand at the refrigerator and take out jars and vegetables I can count the number of tiny moves it takes to go from left to right.
And, while I have some tiny progress by the day, I am not getting faster.

Sometimes this makes me very heavy and sad.  Akin Salawu sent me a marvelous Buddhist tale:

Chinese Bamboo Tree

I like the story of the Chinese bamboo tree: You take a little seed, plant it, water it, and fertilize it for a whole year, and nothing happens. 

The second year you water it and fertilize it, and nothing happens. 

The third year you water it and fertilize it, and nothing happens. How discouraging this becomes! 

The fifth year you continue to water and fertilize the seed and then---take note. Sometime during the fifth year, the Chinese bamboo tree sprouts and grows NINETY FEET IN SIX WEEKS! 

Life is much akin to the growing process of the Chinese bamboo tree. 

It is often discouraging. We seemingly do things right, and nothing happens. But for those who do things right and are not discouraged and are persistent, things will happen. Finally we begin to receive the rewards. 

I am now receiving the rewards of seeds that were planted 5 years ago. You are as well. Are you getting the results you want? If not, begin today to sow the seeds of what you want 5 years from now. 

Remember, if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll get the results you've always gotten. 

By Dan Miller