When you need just one more…

…of you…

 

Yes, this is how I feel, the majority of the time.

Then again, by not rushing around like mad, it seems like more does get done.  Even with deadlines, slow and steady wins.  Take the time to breathe deeply and pay attention to what you're doing.  Stress is not an option, even if that clock is ticking.

This is something I have learned since moving to Georgia from Maryland.  Up in Maryland, there was almost always a gun to my head, saying "Get it DONE! GET IT DONE RIGHT NOW! RIGHT NOW! RIGHT NOW! RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
And what came out of it was not what my best is.  Botched work when I know I'm capable of better, utterly STUPID errors that could have been avoided had I taken a moment to look things over. Things were forgotten in the fray, things that should NEVER be forgotten, and would not have been forgotten had I taken a moment to go back and look things over.

This goes for both work and home.

Here in Georgia, I take that time, because deadline or no, people HERE know and understand that things DO take TIME.  More of what I do is done right THE FIRST TIME, when I take those moments to breathe, to check over, to look back.  When there is not someone impatient looming over me demanding things be done RIGHT NOW!!!!!!, then I work better, and I work faster.

Funny how people here, for as much as so many stereotype "Southern People" with "Dumb" and "Slow", have the right of things here.

As Simon and Garfunkle put it:

"Slow down, you move too fast!
Y'got to make the moment last!
Just kickin' down the cobblestones,
Lookin' for fun and
Feelin' Groovy!"
~The 59th Street Bridge Song

Though I don't dawdle when I'm working on things, I do take the time to breathe, break, and look back at things.  They get done right the first time, usually, with minor tweaks.

And more gets checked off along the day, the week, the month, the year, because fewer stress-caused errors = more productivity in less time.

I've also found that people are polite here.  Saying hello doesn't get you dirty looks.  Asking "How are you?" is answered.  People smile more.

Calling someone "friend" does not mean "usable, discard once they have no more use".

A lot of northern people are moving down here.  I'm hoping that the atmosphere does not change; I'm sick of being used by someone else, and if I want to get ahead, I'm not going to use someone else to get there, like I've been used in the past.  That's not how I was raised.

I'm CERTAINLY not going to rush a job for a deadline.  Slow and steady.  Right the FIRST time, not the 26th time after rushing and overlooking.

I still want more of me, so I can do things faster, though.  Just because it WOULD be simpler.

 

Next week, we return to Minnerviews!  Thanks for reading everyone!