Slow Down! No, Speed Up! My Struggle with Time

I can remember being in elementary school staring up at the clock and counting down the hours until it read 3:00 so I could hop on the bus to go home. When I was older as a freshman in college I wished the time until graduation would fly by, and it certainly did. Now I’m feeling geared up to start working so I’m counting down the months until the internship is over.

My mind has always operated in “on to the next one” mode. I’m constantly thinking of the future and pushing the present out of the way to get there. On one hand, this type of thinking helps me get through tough days because I’m looking forward to bigger and better things. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to slow down and actually enjoy the moment. I end up speeding through a period of time and when it’s over I can’t help but look back and wonder how it would have been different had I not taken the fast lane.

Looking back college did fly by, even faster than I wished for and now I’m left wanting more. Learning from that experience, I don’t want it to happen again during this internship. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to experience things I will probably never get to experience again. I want to be present in the moment and take the time to appreciate what I’m doing.

Some experiences I’ve had so far through my rotations that I’d like to take a moment to appreciate are:

- Driving through scenic Montgomery County to get to elementary and middle schools so I could observe the school lunch and breakfast programs in action
- Eating a large bowl of fresh pineapple as part of my lunch at UMD dining services before meeting with students in the dining hall to discuss nutrition
- Discovering the sport of bacci ball from the staff at Food and Friends and packing and delivering meals for clients with HIV/AIDS and cancer
- Making pumpkin pie pudding and reading Max Goes to the Farmer’s Market to kindergarteners through 5th graders in Baltimore City schools
- Meeting all of the wonderful people in my dietetic internship program!

So instead of living life wishing time would hurry up so I can start the next thing, my goal is to slow down a bit and savor my time. Because before I know it I’ll be a new RD looking back at my time as an intern; I want to be able to say I did all that I could and had as much fun as I could along the way.