26th February, 2023
Here is a poem written by child psychologist David L. Weatherford, I read some years back and again recently.
This is one of the few texts that led me to work towards changing my life, from one where I was deferring living for tomorrow to one where I try to live today as happily as possible.
I hope this poem also helps you in case you are looking for a similar change, or even otherwise.
“Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun fading into the night?
You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say, “Hi?”
You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere,
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It’s like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race,
So take it slower.
Hear the music
Before your song is over.”
I could relate this to the irrationality with which most of us live our lives, ignoring the beautiful things that happen around us while we race towards achieving name, fame, and of course, a lot of money because we hate to miss a single minute of this party and would rather postpone living for tomorrow, or “till age 40/50/60.”
As Seneca said –”There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living; there is nothing harder to learn.”
As Warren Buffett wrote in his letter to shareholders in 2000, “normally sensible people drift into behavior akin to that of Cinderella at the ball. They know that overstaying the festivities…will eventually bring on pumpkins and mice. But they nevertheless hate to miss a single minute of what is one helluva party. Therefore, the giddy participants all plan to leave just seconds before midnight. There’s a problem, though: They are dancing in a room in which the clocks have no hands.”
In this dancing room called ‘life’ too, the clocks have no hands and the singing and dancing can get over anytime.
So you better start hearing and enjoying the music now.
Stop being so busy, and all this is possible.
Give time to your loved ones, Give time to yourself & stay blessed forever.