Last night, as we sat surrounded by the latest designs, ideas, concepts and scribbles - we called timeout, made a coffee and readjusted. As we talked idly, we started to discuss our favourite quotes.
This one came to mind.
Way back when
European missionaries serving in Africa a century ago hired local villagers as porters to help carry supplies to a distant station (imagine Mombasa to Lake Victoria). The porters went at a slower pace than the missionaries desired, so after the first two days, they pushed them to go faster.
On day three of the trek, the group went twice as far as day two. Around the campfire that evening, the missionaries congratulated themselves for their leadership abilities. But on day four, the workers would not budge.
What’s wrong?” asked the missionary.
“We cannot go any further today,” replied the villagers’ spokesman.
“Why not? Everyone appears well.”
“Yes,” said the man, “but we went so quickly yesterday that we must wait here for our souls to catch up with us."
The tale is attributed variously to South African or African tribesmen, Himalayan Sherpas, or Inca tribesmen. In modern life we all move so fast and are tempted to fill our days with endless to-do lists, projects, work commitments, stuff, stuff, stuff.
How often do we take the time to stop and wait for our souls to catch up? To step off the conveyor belt and regroup. To reconnect with what we feel, what our intuition is telling us about what (and who) is around us.
This our reminder to you to take some time, let your soul catch up. Doing nothing is sometimes is doing something. Even watching Netflix counts if it's purposeful rest... but getting outside and breathing in that 'fresh' air you might have got lectured about as a kid, well they might have been on to something.
