Fast and Slow Walkers

There is a lesson about judgement I have to keep learning over and over again. Every time a good example comes up, I try to burn it into my memory.

There are people that always appear to be rushing, hustling. Some of them are calm, but usually there is a keen sense of urgency in their gait and facial expressions. It’s easy to look at these people and feel “damnnnn, that person really gets things done”.

Then there are slow walkers. People that appear to mope around slowly. Not even cunningly, but more in an eeyore sense. Slowly moving from point A to point B, taking their sweet time, nothing in particular appearing to be on their minds as their gaze is mostly at the ground in front of them. It’s easy to look at these people and feel “dammmm don’t they have some place to be? Something important to do?”.

These are the fast and slow walkers I’m thinking of, and I’m thinking hard about judgement. Judgement is a useful tool to avoid needing to know every little detail about every situation and decision to be made. It is necessary. But boy is it also a terrible thing sometimes.

I have a few great examples in my life of fast walkers that get nothing done, and slow walkers that are brilliant powerhouses.

Preconceived notions run deep, and from what I understand they become even harder to overcome once you cross the hump in to middle age (hello forties!). Resisting the urge to judge haphazardly is a constant learning process. It is a deep and intrinsic belief of mine that challenging the fundamentals is necessary for good and proper judgement. Getting to the root and understanding the rationale behind the judgement is key.

With fast and slow walkers I think it is a simple, naive logic at play. If people can get from point A to point B faster, then they’ll likely get more done! Less time wandering about. If their brows are furrowed, there is a lot going on behind the scenes, a lot “getting done” as they hustle about.

But the physical journey in the information age is such a small fraction of actually getting things done, and often fast walkers minds are full of anxiety and disturbance, slow walkers nestling in calm and understanding. It is clear for me to see that this preconceived notion is archaic, and of negative value, and one that should almost always be cast aside.

For the record, I’m usually one of the fast walkers. But I’m working on slowing down. Not for the reasons mentioned herein, mostly just to smell the flowers.