Rushing towards Death
Developing a mindset to slow down and enjoy life
“The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is on the contrary born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else — we are the busiest people in the world.” — Eric Hoffer
Much has been written about the frantic pace of modern life but rushing isn’t a new problem. Thousands of years ago the stoic philosopher Seneca wrote about the wretchedness of rushing through life — “Everyone rushes his life on, and suffers from a yearning for the future and a boredom with the present. But that man who devotes every hour to his own needs, who plans every day as if it were his last, neither longs for nor fears tomorrow.” It feels like we accomplish more by rushing but there are significant tradeoffs.
Rushing makes us more prone to errors. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden would instruct his players to “be quick but don’t hurry” because Wooden wanted quickness, but he wanted it under control. It is what legendary law man Wyatt Earp meant when he said “Fast is fine but accuracy is final. You must learn to be slow in a hurry”. Actor Viggo Mortensen recalls “One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.”
It requires a deliberate mindset to consciously resist applied urgency. We need to learn to slow time, to counteract the gravitational pull or tendency to rush. This is even more important when there is a significant consequence of making an error[1]. One mindset used in the high consequence environment of commercial aviation is Marsh’s Law of Inertia[2] which states “the more (time) pressure that is exerted, the more I need to slow down” or in equation form -
There is a more insidious problem with rushing. We miss out on all the good things in life, those small moments filled with joy. Watching the sunset, intently listening to a loved one, witnessing a child experience something for the first time, savouring the food we are eating. Herman Hesse exclaimed “Do not overlook the little joys!”, reminding us “[There are] many other small joys, perhaps the especially delightful one of smelling a flower or a piece of fruit, of listening to one’s own or others’ voices, of hearkening to the prattle of children. And a tune being hummed or whistled in the distance, and a thousand other tiny things from which one can weave a bright necklace of little pleasures for one’s life.”
Doing more isn’t the answer, we need to move from the fear of missing out (FOMO) to what Jason Fried[3] calls the joy of missing out (JOMO). Marcus Aurelius[4] reminded himself “If you seek tranquillity, do less.” Or (more accurately) do what’s essential — what the logos of a social being requires, and in the requisite way. Which brings a double satisfaction: to do less, better. Because most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, “Is this necessary?”
Kierkegaard observed “Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be a man who is brisk about his food and his work”. In the end, we have to question what we are rushing towards — our own death ?
[1] History is littered with tragedies which have been attributed to time pressure. The worst aviation accident in history, the Tenerife disaster on 27th March 1977 which involved two 747 aircraft and which killed 583 people was due to the captain of the departing KLM 747 taking off in fog after a long delay.
[2] Attributed to aviator Peter Marsh
[3] It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy At Work, Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hanson
[4] Meditations 4–24, Marcus Aurelius
