The Andante Garden

I'm finally parked at Starbucks with my usual Americano after doing some shopping at the mall. Feeling a bit exhausted actually, after walking up and down a few escalators that were not work. 

Walking is great exercise, and I try to do that whenever I could. I do not mind parking my car further away from my intended destination so that it gives me an opportunity to walk. I can't understand why people are so averse to doing that. Why pay for a gym membership when you can incorporate exercise into your everyday life?

Isn't life great when you do not have to hurry? There's an optimum pace to living which allows one to fully absorb each experience as they come along; you tend to miss a lot of the nuances and details if you rush through things. Slow down. Andante ("at a walking pace"): that's the tempo to lead life.

The mind needs the time and space to absorb and digest each new experience. Which is why I always prefer travelling alone. You don't get distracted by conversations with friends and you tend to notice your surroundings a lot more. 

Writing too has an optimum speed. When you slow down thinking and writing to a speed that is comfortable, ideas begin to germinate. The universe doesn't like to be rushed. Things happen when they happen in their own time. Allow them to reveal themselves, like flowers unfurling their petals.

If you read a passage of text and fail to understand it, just slow down. Read one sentence. Let it seep into you mind, like chocolate melting in your mouth. Only then do you grasp its cadence and imagery. Food always tastes better when someone asked you take a small bite. That is because your mind is fully focussed on sampling all the tiny little flavours released by that small portion. 

This sip of coffee that is lingering in my mouth now, these tiny little characters that I deposit on the computer screen, they are part of an unfoldment that is my life, my karma.  And when I put my full attention to them, they are lived, they are examined, they are enjoyed.

Never rush through life. Always remind yourself, like how a stern piano teacher would an over-eager student rushing through a minuet piece: Andante! Andante! For life is a beautifiul garden, best enjoyed at a slow walking pace.