You Better Slow Down

This poem gets me every time I read it. I probably should read it everyday, because it's so easy to forget to just slow down.

Slow Down

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,

or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,

or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down,

don't dance so fast,

time is short, the music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,

when you ask "How are you?",

do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,

do you lie in your bed,

with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down,

don't dance so fast

time is short, the music won't last.

Ever told your child,

we'll do it tomorrow,

and in your haste, not seen his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

let a good friendship die,

'cause you never had time to call and say "hi".

You better slow down,

don't dance so fast

time is short, the music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,

you miss half the fun of getting there,

When you worry and hurry though your day,

it is like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race,

so take it slower,

hear the music before the song is over.

- author David L. Weatherford