What Pace Of Life Do We Want…

We live in a fast-paced world and urban life is like a big particle accelerator. Many feel stressed, tired or left behind because they are constantly on the move and it seems it is a common default or is it addiction. The justification is, more productive and a better living standard. In the context of a country, it is developed.

The Industrial Revolution monetised efficiency. High productivity brings profitability and workers are forced to live by the clock. Lifestyles changed and dependence on technology is doing little to help while time itself seems to be increasingly fleeting. Operations may be more efficient and leisure time supposedly has grown but our lives are increasingly hurried and relaxation is a scare commodity.

How are they affecting our lives and whether it leads to greater happiness and wellbeing? Is faster better or do we need to turn at every shiny thing?  

It is a personal choice, balancing a desire for a fast-paced life or a slower pace to find more fulfillment and joy.

According to the World Health Organisation, over 55% of the world’s population live in urban areas and is set to rise up to 70% by 2050. Almost 40% of urban dwellers have no access to safely managed sanitation services and inadequate drinking water. An estimated 91% of people in urban areas breathe polluted air.

Poorly designed urban transport systems create traffic jams and accidents, air and noise pollution and barriers to safe physical activity – all leading to higher levels of injuries and noncommunicable disease.

Continued urbanisation is expected to lead to cities becoming epicentres of disease transmission, including vector-borne diseases. Cities consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy and are responsible for over 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Rapid and poorly planned urbanisation will hit the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest coupled with negative social and environmental health impacts. Health inequities are perhaps most stark in urban areas.

Perhaps, we are busy for the rich to get richer.

The urban poor in Malaysia have a high prevalence of depression due to factors such as low income, stressful life events, loneliness and a lack of assets a.k.a. city living blues.

A study, “The pace of life in 31 countries” offered evidence that the pace of life is related to the physical and psychological well-being of communities: Faster places tended to have higher rates of death from chronic heart disease, higher smoking rates, higher levels of suicide and interestingly, they also have higher levels of subjective well-being.

Many are looking at the work-life balance in choked cities with a need to maintain harmony with adequate space for everyone to adjust. We need breathing cities and cities that produces and tell useful and positive stories. 

We have to wisely mix wisdom, ‘balance not wins’ and align it with a vision of an equitable, sustainable and united future. Rather than striving for a ‘perfect’ that may well never be, we have to be pragmatic to also enjoy the little things. A study found that people who are more successful have faster walking speeds but how is the success defined?

Is the pace of life being too fast for our soul? The sun and moon seem to cycle faster but don’t forget to breathe. I want to lay my back in the grass to witness the slow movement of the clouds – to reconnect my body, heart, mind and soul with the true rhythm of life. The rhythm and speed at which my biology was designed to move – slower. Even celestial natural beauty is more vivid in the countryside.

Will modernity last? This brief anthropological anomaly comes with declining birth rates, smaller abodes and the missing promised utopias. As we develop, there are more sophisticated weapons that leads to crises and wars. We want to conquer space but there are an estimated 673 million facing hunger in 2024.

In my younger days, my adaptable neocortex may override messages from my body and mind in order to keep up. As I get more mature, the less I care about what others think of me and crave for a life that feels authentic and a sense of wholeness; a flower garden and not the weeds that spring up overnight.

A balanced and deliberate pace of life that prioritises consistency and mindfulness, finding a harmonious rhythm that integrates worldly responsibilities with spiritual obligations are how Muslims are encouraged to live their life. For Christians, believers are encouraged to live with “patient urgency,” balancing diligence and good works with intentional rest and reliance on God’s timing. All of creation has secrets to teach us about the rhythm and tempo of being human and there is a divine plan for all creation.   

A paper by anthropologists Colin Shaw (University of Zurich) and Daniel Longman (Loughborough University) argues that modern life has outpaced human evolution. Chronic stress and many modern health issues are the result of an evolutionary mismatch between our primarily nature-adapted biology and the industrialized environments we now inhabit. One welldocumented example is the global decline in sperm count and motility observed since the 1950s.

Do not rush to keep up with anyone else’s standards. Yes, there is time scarcity but we don’t need to hoard as if there would be no tomorrow.   

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Didn’t the tortoise win the race but I have an inner rabbit …

What say you…

 

Saleh Mohammed