Betty Arrigotti

Slowing Down 6 – Hurry Sickness

Let’s continue gleaning wisdom from the book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, by John Mark Comer.

Comer writes, “All too often our hurry is a sign of something else. Something deeper. Usually that we’re running away from something—father wounds, childhood trauma, deep insecurity, or deficits of self-worth, fear of failure, pathological inability to accept the limitations of our humanity, or simply boredom with the mundanity of middle life.

“Or we’re running to something—promotions or purchases or experiences or stamps on our passports or the next high—searching in vain for something no earthly experience has to offer: a sense of self-worth and love and acceptance.

“Sometimes our hurry is less dramatic; we’re just overly busy, more victims of the rights and responsibilities of the modern world than perpetrators of escapism. But either way, the effect is the same.”

Too much hurry causes Symptoms of Hurry Sickness (or what Fr. Dave Gutmann calls Low Battery of the Soul):

Irritability—You get mad, frustrated, or just annoyed way too easily. Little normal things irk you.
Hypersensitivity—All it takes is a minor comment to hurt your feelings, or a little turn of events to ruin your day.
Restlessness—When you actually do try to slow down and rest, you can’t rest. Instead, you fill every moment with multi-tasking.
Workaholism (or nonstop activity)—You just don’t know when to stop. Drugs of choice are accomplishment and accumulation.
Emotional numbness—You don’t have the capacity to feel another’s pain, or even your own.
Out-of-order priorities—You feel disconnected from your identity or calling. Your life is reactive, not proactive. You do not have time for what really matters.
Lack of care for your body—You don’t have time for the basics: 8 hours of sleep a night; daily exercise; healthy, home-cooked food; minimal stimulants; margin.
Escapist behaviors—You turn to distractions of choice: overeating, overdrinking, binge-watching, social media, porn.
Slippage of spiritual life—When you get overly busy, the things that are truly life giving for your soul are the “first to go” rather than “your first go to”—such as a quiet time in the morning, scripture, prayer, worship, etc.
Isolation—You feel disconnected from God, others, and your own soul.

Here are a few more effects of hurry.

Hurry kills relationships. Love takes time; hurry doesn’t have time.
Hurry kills joy, gratitude, appreciation; people in a rush don’t have time to enter the goodness of the moment.
Hurry kills wisdom; wisdom is born in the quiet, the slow. Wisdom has its own pace. It makes you wait for it—wait for the inner voice to come to the surface of your tempestuous mind, but not until waters of thought settle and calm.
Hurry kills all that we hold dear: spirituality, health, marriage, family, thoughtful work, creativity, generosity … name our value. Hurry is a sociopathic predator loose in our society.

Reading Matthew Kelly’s, Slowing Down to the Speed of Joy, and John Mark Comer’s, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, makes me want to live in a more contemplative, mindful way. I don’t think I dwell in a constant state of hurry at this stage of my life, but I certainly remember times as a young mother when I was overwhelmed by my responsibilities. However, I certainly could enhance my life by adding more quiet time for prayer, contemplation, and journaling. I’m reminded that Matthew Kelly’s solution to too much hurry begins with a well-lived, peaceful Sabbath.

One last thought for the week. I wonder how many of the symptoms of hurry might also assail us from too much worry? Let’s slow down, but let’s also put our trust in God that, in spite of the existence of evil, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” (Julian of Norwich)