There's something almost paradoxical about the rush habit.
You know rushing isn't good for you. You've probably told yourself to slow down a hundred times. And yet the moment you actually try.. something in you resists. Hard.
Someone in a recent satsang put it beautifully: "I feel conditioned to rush and do things quicker than they need to be.. what am I afraid will happen if I slow down?"
That's such an honest question. And most people who rush would recognise themselves in it.
Here's what I think is really going on. Rushing doesn't just become a habit.. it becomes an identity. Over time, the mind wires speed to something much deeper than productivity. It links it to being useful, being liked, being loved. "If I'm moving fast, I'm doing well. If I'm doing well, I'm okay. If I'm okay, I'll be loved."
That wiring happens quietly, usually in childhood, and by the time you're an adult it's just.. running in the background. You don't even notice it anymore. It just feels like who you are.
So when you try to slow down, the threat isn't about your to-do list. The threat is to your identity. And the love you've unconsciously attached to it. Of course there's fear. That fear makes complete sense.
What I also find comforting in this is the image of a snow globe. When you shake one, everything goes cloudy and unsettled before it finally settles. That unsettled feeling when you start to slow down? That's not things going wrong. That's pieces resettling. Give it space. Don't resist it.
Watch the full satsang above.
If you want to explore this kind of question in real time, I hold a live satsang every Friday inside the free Elevate Community.. come join us if you'd like to be in the room. And if you want a gentle place to start, the free 7-Day Inner Work Challenge is a good first step.
Big love, Dylan