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Stop signs (A re-post from Malakai's Pages)

Ever notice how you stop at a stop sign, but your mind doesn’t stop with you?
You watch the pedestrians cross the street in front of you and you see
them scamper and disappear into the crowd  at the other end of the
street or into their offices down the road. You figure, you need to do
the same because you’re very late for your telecon with Singapore.
But you sit. And you wait. And you watch the tops sign turn green. And
while you do, other little images of what you already did and yet to be
done flash in your mind like a flurry of slides in a projector –
seemingly disconnected, but connected still… in you.
Now in you lies the secret to this puzzle. Perhaps its really the kind
of lifestyle that you opt to keep. Often you may feel like you’re running and rushing for something that there seems to be no more time left to stop..and smell the roses.
Stop and smell the roses. Is it possible to do so without  thinking of anything else but the roses? You’ve never really been able to isolate  something for the longest time — your old phone’s bling bling that just today turned into a new orange pendant…your faded jeans carry memories of fun-filled weekends…The list can go on and it can fill your every waking moment.
Every waking moment you have is scanning, scanning, scanning the horizon for things or interest and priorities. The common, the mundane, the average, the usual and the predictable are often ignored and not paid attention to. The unusual, the intriguing, the fascinating and simply the Rush requirements are immediately spied, examined and if need be, acted on as soon as possible.
As soon as you realize you’re already caught in a web of activities, requirements and tasks, your momentum builds, your pace quickens, your priorities get derailed in favor of things that are less important, less meaningful. Notice how even on weekends you panic when you start your day 30 minutes later than intended? All of a sudden, your weekends mirrors what you do on ordinary days: you, rushing from one point to the next, frantically trying to meet schedules, but miserably failing. In the end, the lifestyle you choose to live unfortunately makes a victim out of you once again.
Once again, I feel we become unfortunate victims of overchoice: too much to do, too little time. Come to think of it, the problem is quite universal and it wont stop…until you choose to.
So choose to stop at the stop sign next time with your mind halting as well. Today is a saturday and my son and I will stop together to smell the roses. (we don’t have that here, but in Lolo’s house, there’s lots!)

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