Slow and Steady Wins the Race

This past weekend Anna and I spent a lot of time together...which is always fun. We did a variety of tasks together from grocery shopping to cleaning, hanging blinds and curtains to rearranging furniture, and just hanging out and enjoying time with each other.

Throughout the weekend a particular phrase kept popping up as we went about our tasks: slow and steady wins the race.

I've heard that phrase in passing many times, but have never really taken time to appreciate the value of it. Well, I think Anna and I both learned the value of that saying through our endeavors this past weekend, and its sober convicting yet sometimes comical tone is one that will always be with us.

Here are some of the lessons we learned:

1. When driving down the impossible slope of an icy, unplowed Graham Street (the street on which I live) after a snowfall, slow and steady wins the race.

2. When driving anywhere in the city in a car fueled on the budget of a young, recent college graduate who also happens to be a poor volunteer on an $80/month salary, slow and steady wins the race. Who knew that driving like grandma was actually a cost effective means of driving...

3. When navigating a grocery cart through the congested isles of the grimy Giant Eagle grocery store in East Liberty (also known as the "dirty bird" because of its griminess), slow and steady wins the race.

4. When mounting blinds and curtains for the first time in your life, slow and steady wins the race.

5. After five hours of mounting blinds and becoming slightly impatient and, to borrow an old term from my mom, snippy with each other, slow and steady wins the race.

6. When moving large pieces of furniture around in tight spaces, slow and steady wins the race.

Tired of hearing that phrase yet? We got tired of it to some extent, but we also enjoyed an easy-going, low-tension, stress-free, accident-free weekend because of it. Oh, and all tempers were kept in check...also a good thing.

It's easy to overlook the value and relevance of these pithy statements to our lives, but if you think about them a little bit you begin to appreciate them a lot more.