It is said that “For everything, there is a time.” -- though the way most of us behave, one would hardly know it! Seems to me most of us spend the better part of our time trying to speed things up, to hurry things along.

“Just In Time”, “Time to market”, “The Speed of Thought” - everywhere we turn we’re reminded of the need to be quick, to be fast. And at the same time, there’s an expectation that we’ll “get it right”. It doesn’t seem to be that much different on the home front!

Any way we look at it, the demands are high. But are they realistic? And what end do they serve?

There’s no doubt that many of our business processes can, even should, be improved. There’s room to limit waste, to reduce time. And if we do so, there is much to be gained in customer satisfaction, market share - even profitability.

But when it comes to the process of life, do we gain the same value, the same “pay-back” by hurrying things along?

As we push and pull our way through each and every day, wrestling with relationships, struggling with the stress of home and community “realities”, are we in effect reducing our options, limiting our choices, forfeiting opportunities? Are we missing the very essence of life?

Nature - the very process of life - has it’s own time, it’s own pace, it’s cycles. There is a time for everything, and for everything there is time.

Is there, perhaps, a lesson we can learn from this beauty that surrounds us?