It was good old Nietzsche who brilliantly said: "Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself."

We are all running so fast

because

at the very core of it all

we are running from

ourselves.

Ahhhhh ...

Do you feel the truth of this in your bones, like me?

Do you recognize this running from yourself in yourself?

In your pace?

In your excessive over-filling of your schedule?

In your constant sense of go-go-go??

I sure do. And I see it all around me. All the time. It seems far easier to run fast, to live "with haste" than it does to slow down and savor the days, experience the emotions no matter how uncomfortable, or dig deep inside to discern what matters most.

I see it in myself. In the ways I like to have a full calendar. In the ways I find solace in knowing that there are urgent things on my to-do list that need my attention. In the ways I feel a bit adrift when white space opens up in my day and I have the freedom to do what I want. In the angst I feel as I grow older and am noticing I am not at the center of it all anymore.

I see it in my friends as they navigate all the seasons of life they are in: newly married, never married, new to their career, at the end of their career, navigating addiction or illness or divorce or financial stress or the ever-growing concern about our nation and its future.

I see it in our culture. All the social media posts about leveling up and getting ripped and snatched and using every minute of our precious days to get ahead and beat the clock and prove our worth.

EXHAUSTING at every level.

What if haste is not as cool as we have been led to believe?

What if slowing a bit and learning to come home to ourselves is the greatest achievement of a lifetime?

What if practicing becoming really comfortable in our own skin and being happy with our very unfinished, unpolished, un-perfect self is the most profound goal we could set?

What if we don't have to be in flight from ourself anymore?

What if we gave up haste for Lent as a little experiment?

It's coming up, you know. March 5 is Ash Wednesday if you need a date.

What would it look like in your life if you gave up haste for 6 weeks and practiced turning toward yourself with love, compassion and curiosity rather than running away as fast as you can?

I can't help but smile as I picture some of us turning toward our very own selves, perhaps for the first time in a long time, and being amazed at who we meet there.

And very possibly, overjoyed.