Slow is fast. Fast is slow.

I read this quote in one of my favorite blogs - Waiterrant. This guy is hilariously right-on, and since my family grew up in restaurants (my Grandpa started the Village Inn franchise in Nebraska and Iowa), I love his take on service and what it takes to brave the hungry masses.

In today's diatribe about a restaurant's challenges, he threw this quote in:

"Slow is fast. Fast is slow."

Apparently this is a military saying designed to help soldiers on the front lines focus.

It makes sense. If 100 bullets are flying at you, it's better to bust out some Matrix-style slowness out and try to dodge them all individually while time stands still.

Oppositely, if only one is flying your way, you'd better be thinking where the other 99 could be coming from, quickly anticipating their approach.

Life is zooming all around me right now.

I'm neck-deep in Upendo planning, getting ready to accomplish a feat I've never even dreamed possible, and my mind is racing with ideas...it's fantastic. The possibilities and small details are numerous, speeding towards me like a train without breaks, and often keeping me from sleeping at night.

A few nights ago, in an attempt to get some shut-eye, I sat down with the informal Upendo planning team - Sarah, Julius, Kelli, and Antony (minus Cass & Elizabeth). What we did while hammering out the details was the equivalent of slowing down the ever-advancing hands of a clock. Delegating details, making sure I've thought of the best way to accomplish something, and most crucially, making sure that God doesn't get lost in the details...time was C.R.A.W.L.I.N.G.

"Fast is slow."

I have rarely experienced the opposite situation where slow is fast, but I think the anxious waiting would be far worse. I really enjoy when life gets slow, since it so rarely happens, and I try to revel in it, not anticipate what else could be happening.

It's probably my personality - energetic, determined, ready to perfect and conquer some new challenge - but I don't remember the last time that I had to really get on the offensive and look for the pending blows that life could dish out. The last year has been entirely speed...racing forward, desperately looking for the breaks, then giving up and enjoying the ride.

I'm hoping after the 25th that life slows down a little. It would be nice to breathe with regularity and repeat...

"Slow is fast. Slow is fast. Slow is fast."

At the very least, it would be a new challenge.