Life of (f)Utility: Hacking the Human Race

The Single Most Important Message I Got out of “Four Hour Work Week”

my son and me in the fountain. we had a scorcher yesterday.

Quitting The Deferred-Life Plan

Similar to ‘Getting Things Done’, I feel the author saved the best message for last. At the end of ‘Four Hour Work Week’, he gives a poem ‘Slow Dance’ (written by David L Weatherford, a child psychologist).

Four Hour Work Week is the second book (of three) that woke me up and has encouraged me to… get off my ass, to put it bluntly. It made me think about what dreams am I putting off. Why am I not acting on them? Why am I allowing myself to be distracted by so much noise in the world?

I know this poem is the content of spam mail, and I know it’s arguably cheesy. But I don’t care, I love it. In the slim chance you haven’t read it, here it is.

Slow Dance

by David Weatherford

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 fading into the 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 see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a 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 through your day,
it’s like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life isn’t a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.

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