The Best Thing I Ever Did

When I am trying to think, it is a supreme distraction to me if there is movement, noise or confusion in the same room. Often, like Winnie-the-Pooh, when I wish to think about something or solve a perplexing problem, I go to my “thoughtful spot”, my bedroom, close the door and just sit in peace and quiet where ideas can flow freely without interruption. As human beings, I believe we all need a thoughtful spot, but I also believe that we need a thoughtful life.

I had three children and lived in a fairly large city when I awoke to the chaos around me. It happened one bright, sunny afternoon in our front yard while my children and I were out for a short walk. As we walked down the sidewalk returning to our home, a car came speeding over the little hill behind us. I thought nothing of it since we were on the sidewalk and kept my eyes on my children walking a few steps ahead of me. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the car dove recklessly toward my children. I drew a quick, gasping breath and prepared to scream. The car, just as quickly, jerked back onto his side of the road and went careening away from us, well beyond the speed limit.

At first, I thought that the boy driving the car had been trying to hit my children. I was angry and frustrated by my powerlessness in the situation. However, I soon realized that the boy had probably just been goofing off and had tried to frighten the children. This terrible and harrowing experience caused me to question the wisdom of living in such a place.

Within a year, we had purchased a small farm and were enjoying the wide open spaces around us. The first thing I noticed about living there was that if you had to drive anywhere, there weren't fifteen cars behind you, pushing you to go faster. You could drive anywhere and stop in the middle of the road if you wished and just look at the scenery. The other thing I noticed was the feeling of calm that allowed one to think. No one was hurrying anywhere and life just sat there like a blooming flower, waiting to be enjoyed.

Our friends were astonished that we would move so far away from “everything”. They complained that the drive into town for my husband's work would be intolerable to them. They liked that shorter drive, they said. Ironically, though further, the drive into town from our farm actually took less time because one did not have to fight the traffic, besides the fact that a leisurely scenic drive was far less stressful.

There are times when we have to be where everyone is hurrying everywhere through bustling, crowded thoroughfares. When that happens and life seems to be a mass of hurried confusion, it is helpful for me to step back from the crowd, turn off the noise, stop the car and find a quiet place to reflect. There are too few places where this is possible. Instead, life seems to offer more and more distractions, noises, fast-paced shows, activities, jobs, money-making schemes, products and advertisements. Not only that, but people seem to be in more of a hurry than ever to keep up, get ahead and stay afloat.

The other day, when offered the opportunity to assemble a simple project at a scout meeting, I overheard one boy say that he didn't have the time. Is life so fast-paced, even for children, that we don't have time to live?

Living takes time. Like thinking in my thoughtful spot, living has to be taken in with slow, easy breaths, enjoying it one moment at a time. I found it very difficult to live in a place where I was constantly dodging cars, being kept awake by noise and running as fast as I could to keep up. Real living began for me when I steered off the fast track and parked in a little field where I could think. It was the best thing I ever did.