"The Way of the Turtle"

I hurry.
I tried to get to places, get things done, and fit everything into the twenty four hours I have each day.
I make lists, pretty much for everything. What to eat, an hour-by-hour plan of what I need to do, of where I need to be during the day, how often to exercise (and what kind of exercise to do), and more normal things like grocery shopping lists.
I usually have my headphones on while walking to and from class, or pretty much wherever else I need to go. There's constantly traffic and cars speeding down the road, honking, breaking, making noise. There are other people hurrying to get places, some of who have no patience for being slowed down. My phone is always on me and it constantly alerts me with texts, emails, Facebook notifications, and Instagram likes.
In other words, I'm rarely at peace, unplugged, and quiet.

As part of my "success" class, I read part of Covey's "7 Habits of Effective People", and one thing that stood out to me was how he talked about being proactive versus reactive. He says that there's a stimulus, which is followed by a gap, and ending with a reaction. The way we react to what happens to us (instead of what actually happens to us) is what determines who we are, and how we feel.
In class, we also talked about Nature, and how we tend to ignore, or at least look past the amazing message that Nature is trying to send us.
If you try to watch a tree grow each day, you will either get really bored, or drive yourself mad. That's because you can't actually see or observe any change from day to day. However, if you plant seeds and come back in a few months, you will be amazed by the amount of growth that the tree has accomplished.
Nature is never in a hurry. It seems to know, and tell us that things that need to get done will get done, and hurrying is unnecessary.

So this morning, I woke up at 7 and walked to a park from which you can see the entire Philly skyline. I stayed there for half an hour, lying down on the grass, and just listening to the breeze as it slightly shook the leaves of the beautiful tree hovering above me. It was beautiful just lying down and breathing, not hurrying to get anywhere or do anything. I had my phone on airplane mode, and didn't bring any earphones, so I was completely unplugged. It was the best feeling I've had in a long time.

Since I came back this morning, I've been trying to think back to that moment under the tree whenever I feel like I'm getting overwhelmed by the number of things I think I want to get done.
And with that, I also repeat to myself part of something that my professor (Richard Shell) wrote for himself, and shared with us in class yesterday:

"...And may I remember, in my confusion,
The Way of the Turtle:
It goes very slowly
Yet everything is accomplished."