“Hurry Up and Take Your Time” – A Father’s Wit and Wisdom

In my recent Mindful Poetic Stories Podcast (listen here), I share some wisdom from my dad around time.

My dad was one of those effortlessly cool, calm, collected characters with a gentle, roguish twinkle in his eye and a deep love for words and rhyme. He had a way of saying a lot with very few words, and somehow, those words now resonate more deeply than ever before.

As a child, I remember falling for one of his classics every year: “You’re such a good girl — you won’t see what I get you for Christmas.” Every year, as I child, I only heard “get” and “Christmas,” never realising the joke was in “you won’t see”, and yes the funny part is I never did!

But the phrase that I remember most over the years, and the one that now resonates on a deeper level, was:
“Hurry up and take your time.”

As someone who was highly-strung, easily stressed, and always on the move, this phrase made no sense to me. How could you hurry up and take your time at the same time? And if you took your time when you were in a hurry, sure you’d get nothing done!

However, in 2018, I hit full-blown burnout from a lack of a healthy work/life balance.

I was exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I was on a perpetual loop, always multitasking, always planning the next thing before the first was even done. My mind never stopped. I was galloping through life on the fastest horse in town, unknowingly racing toward self-destruction.

Then one day, I was racing down the street, late for a massage appointment. I tripped and fell, hard, turning up to the massage limping and more in need of a massage than ever. However, that fall wasn’t just physical; it was symbolic of a life lived in constant rush. Always in a hurry. Always ahead of myself.

Eventually, the price of that pace caught up with me, and I crashed mentally.

But the good news is that this was the time when I found coaching, which helped me transform my thinking and my life, and set me on the path to self-care, ease and flow.

Reclaiming Time, Reclaiming Myself; 

Recovery from burnout forced me to rethink everything. I realised I needed a better mindset, a new relationship with time. My first step? I wrote this message and pinned it on my office wall in big, bold letters:

“I HAVE TIME — PLENTY OF TIME.”

It might sound simple, but it was foundational and a positively affirming daily reminder.

Because the truth is: we do have time. We have time for what really matters if we choose wisely. So I began to prioritise, to say no to what drained me, and to build daily habits that energised rather than depleted me.

I stopped feeding the chaos and started feeding peace.
I chose presence.
I chose purpose.
I chose to take my time.

And slowly, I began to feel grounded again. Alive. Happy.

The Lasting Power of Words

Looking back, I didn’t realise how much wisdom my dad had packed into his playful words and lyrical wit, and I see now that his simple sayings weren’t just for laughs. They were anchors, lessons in disguise.

“Hurry up and take your time” isn’t a contradiction anymore; it’s a life philosophy. It’s about learning to become more mindful in everything we do, most especially when we find ourselves in a hurry.

So, if you find yourself always rushing, overwhelmed, running on empty…
Pause.   Breathe.   Reflect.
Ask yourself what really matters today.
And remember: you can always choose to take your time, and even though you might be in a hurry, you can still choose to take the time to live in the present moment, mindfully.

To my dad, your words live on.

Thank you for the wisdom, the wit, and the laughter.

You may be gone, but your voice guides me and still makes me smile.

For more words of wisdom, inspiration and motivation, listen to all the Mindful Poetic Stories Podcast episodes here.