Why isn’t “impatience” one of the seven deadly sins?
In the early 2000’s, NPR interviewed Carl Honoré about his new book, In Praise of Slowness. Honoré recounted his epiphany when he realized he was speed reading The Cat In The Hat to his young son. His self examination led to writing the book. I think it may be time for me to read it.
When I look back at my life, it’s not difficult to associate my mistakes with being in a hurry. Perhaps that’s why when I started flying airplanes I started driving slowly – “like a grandpa,” according to my daughter. Airplanes are unforgiving about mistakes.
I’m reminded of a time in high school when the flaw of being impatient was brought to my attention. I took my brother, Lee, and a friend from school, Annette Igra, to the park to fly radio controlled gliders. Annette was one of the most intellectual and sophisticated people I knew at school. She was also very attractive – and frankly, all together out of my league. Lee was helping out by retrieving the launch line between flights. I was impatient to get in one last flight, and I hollered after Lee to hurry and retrieve the launch line. Annette turn to me and said: “You tyrant!”
I associate being in a hurry with a character flaw. But maybe that’s partially the wrong way to look at it. We all express excitement an joy in our own way. We laugh. We jump. We play. And sometimes we rush. I think it might be better to look at being in a hurry as an expression of enthusiasm and elation.
Of course that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still have some self control.
In the NPR interview, Honoré recounts explaining his thesis to a busy executive. Seeing the benefits, the executive responded that he wanted to read the book “right away.”
Now that I have a future with you, I too want it right away.