Fast & Furious
Everything has to be fast – why? And how fast? Fast trains, fast download speed, 10 minute grocery delivery….fast, fast fast! Have we ever thought what has this led to? We have forgotten to wait and if we have to wait it makes us anxious and annoyed because we think we are ‘entitled’ to everything fast and super quick. We do not even realize the mental or behavioural impact if something or some person is not fast, as per our expectation. In offices, schools, at home we keep telling ‘do it fast’ or ‘do it quickly’ or ‘do it ASAP’ or I want it within 30 /15 / 5 / 2 min. Advertising also has a role to play, Maggie has been associated with ‘2 minutes’ since ages. Pizza delivery / online grocery delivery 30 min / 20 min. What is the rush and why is the rush, always?
Even our food has become ‘FAST’, fast food is the craze. Something which can be prepared quickly from ready materials, burgers, pizza, sandwich, fries, frozen snacks. Slow cooking seems outdated. There were dishes which were made on slow flame to enhance taste but who has time for cooking and for slow and elaborate one, ooh! too much to ask these days. So it has to be fast, even if it is unhealthy, adds to obesity, lifestyle diseases still that seems to be the norm.
Unfortunately, this constant ‘Rush’ has become a way of life. What will happen if a video we are trying to see, email we are trying to send takes few more seconds? Why do we start thinking why is it taking so long, why do we get so anxious because of it. This has made our attention and patience span too small, which may not necessarily be good for our health.
This ‘fast’ maybe has added too much stress in our lives and we without thinking we are passing it to our kids too. We have forgotten to relax mentally. Let us slow down a bit! Let us say, take your time, do it slowly and enjoy it.
Consciously, let us try to slow down a bit. Let us see if it relieves the stress and anxiety of our lives to an extent. It will not be easy since we have got used to ‘fast’ everything and we have more speed at our disposal be it cars, rails, broadband (with 5G). There is nothing wrong with 4G, video calls, watching content, but we want more speed or maybe it is just that companies want to sell more speed. I am not saying moving from trains to carts but how much more speed and how much faster is the question and how much do we need? A little slower is not necessarily bad, be it anything.
May be this fast is making us furious too! The expectation of everything to be so prompt, readily available makes us tense, furious or anxious if there is a slight delay. Patience seems to be disappearing so ‘FAST’ (pun intended). If this ‘Fast’ way of life is making us less patient, anxious, impulsive, reduced attention span, stressed out, furious then we need to think, may be slow down a bit, at least occasionally for our mental peace and health. Embrace slow sometimes in a few things and enjoy the moment.