I have been interested in speed all my life. It hasn't mattered what - whatever it is, I wanted it fast. In things like wrestling, that can be a good goal: move fast and you might have an advantage. But in life, maybe much less so. Worse, if you have a speed bug, and things don't seem to go very fast, you can develop a headache or an itch or something. I think males are often fascinated by speed and hungry for it, especially American males.
Meditation and trying to know myself has tipped me off to the possible downside of wanting too many things to go fast. I got another tip from the Adam Sandler film "Clicker". The hero likes remote control devices and finds a powerful one for sale. He buys it and uses it to speed through boring, punishing or irritating parts of life. Works fine. Boss starts yelling - fast forward. Wife, parents, neighbors, kids' teachers - whenever something happens that is unpleasant, just fast on through it at top speed. Uh-oh, life is coming to an end. But, but, but… Well, what do you expect? All those fast forwards added up to much of life having been speeded through.
I have been using computers for more than 40 years. I have emphatically learned that machines are faster than I am. So, I haven't been too attracted to buying an expensive computer. The one I use all the time cost under $200 new. I did realize that I was buying the bottom of the line but I thought saving money and having daily reminders to ponder, contemplate and tolerate slow moving software, extra seconds to switch between one program and another might be good for me. Maybe I would get lessons in going slow and being ok with slowness.
Now, I don't know. Unlike "Clicker", while I wait impatiently for my machine to get clear about the next thing and get into it, my life is going by. Maybe it is time to spend more and get more speed.
