Either in impatience or in the quest for achievement, we hunger about the need for speed.

From fast food, fast cars, fast bikes, fast computers, fast women (or men), fast money to fast tempers and speed dating, more pace is everything nowadays. But why do we need to go fast?

In this world of contradictions, slow is sometimes treasured as much as speed. For example, vast amounts of money are spent on slow sex. Have you seen the billboards advertising ways to make you last longer? This goes to prove that speed is not everything.

When we focus purely on getting there (or getting things done) as quickly as possible, we fall out of time with the natural progression of the world. And we then wonder why ‘the wheels fall apart”- after we have tried so hard. The things that stuff our plans up are meant to slow us down –not to present more obstacles to climb over as quickly as possible to fulfil our agenda.

The earth saunters around the sun at the same speed year after year. It does not want to or need to go any faster or slower. Jacarandas bring out their purple flowers once a year in October to slowly litter the ground with their blossoms. The tide comes in twice a day and no human will be able to change that.

There is no need for speed in the natural world – only things that are naturally built for speed. The snail has no pretentions of beating the hare to the vegetable patch. The vegetables will still be there when the snail finally arrives – only riper.

Recently on a road trip back from Melbourne, I was overtaken by a fast car. I was doing 120km/hr already and this car suddenly appeared in my rear vision mirror and zipped past. In a few seconds, it was out of sight up the road.

You guessed correctly the end of this story.

… about 15 minutes later, we drove past the same car pulled up at the side of the road – not behind a highway patrol car though.

It was behind a police paddy wagon ute. How did the slow ute catch the fast car? It is just another one of life’s strange stories.

Every now and then, you will have ‘unwelcomed’ things that slow your life down. Just welcome them. You were meant to be slowed down. Turn the need for speed into “quick/quick…slow/slow”– as my dance instructor used to say to me…