Exactly 70 Miles Per Hour
Every morning and afternoon, I drive to and from Ravenwood High School on Interstate 65. No matter which way I’m heading, I’m motivated to arrive at my destination as soon as I can. I want to get to school early to prepare for the day ahead, and I want to get home quickly to unwind after a long day.
The thing is, Interstate 65 has a speed limit. It’s 70 miles per hour. The rules of the road dictate how quickly I can get to my office or to my couch. But you don’t have to live in middle Tennessee to know that speed limits are often more what you call guidelines than actual rules. In fact, many of us see them as a challenge. How quickly can I get to where I’m going? How fast can I go without being pulled over? How aggressively can I pass this guy who’s only going ten over the limit?
After recently reading John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, I’ve become more and more conscious of the ways in which I hurry through life for no reason. Hurrying takes my attention away from the present and turns it to a future that I have no control over. Hurrying spoils the precious moment I’m living in right now. I’ve realized that by hurrying, I’m actually losing time. So, at Comer’s suggestion, in an effort to eliminate hurry, I’ve adopted a fairly radical new practice: I’ve started driving the speed limit.
I know, what a novel idea! The purpose of this fascinatingly mundane habit is less about avoiding the authorities and all about intentionally slowing down in a speed-crazed culture. When I move out of the fast lane and set the cruise control to exactly 70 miles per hour, I deliberately set my pace, shed unnecessary anxiety, and return my focus to the present moment. Oh, the irony of using my Honda’s cruise control to deactivate the grip of cruise control on my soul!
The beginning of the fall season can feel a lot like merging onto a 70-mile-per-hour highway. We leave the sunlit back roads of summer and, before we know it, we’re doing 85 and life becomes a blur. Life moves fast enough. Don’t be afraid to set your own pace. Shed the unnecessary anxiety that comes with moving fast. Live deliberately. Slow down. Exactly 70 miles per hour.
Not sure where to start? Let’s talk!
