“Spring is already here, so let’s go out and fly a kite,” one of my friends said in his mini-blog. It served as a reminder for me. I immediately went to the window and looked out. Yes, almost everything was green and the two peach trees were in full blossom. I go to work and then back home every day. How come I didn’t notice the change of seasons that had happened just under my nose?

Of course, all the changes entered my view, but somehow I just didn’t notice them. I teach senior 3 this year and the listening test, the result of which will be part of the final score, is just around the corner. With a sick father, who needs constant care, my life seems to have become a never-ending race, rushing towards one finish line and then to yet another one. It’s high time to slow down! Life is not supposed to be lived that way.

I went outside and walked slowly in the residential area where I lived. I watched all the surroundings closely, stopped occasionally in front of some unnamable trees or bushes and smelled the faint scents. While standing on the bank of the river, I even saw two young little wild ducks cruising leisurely on the water. Where were their mom and dad? How long had they been living here in the pond? I wondered. It was kind of weird that I should fail to see them before; I walked Marvin, my pet dog, around here so many times. I lay down on one of open green fields and told myself to think about nothing else but to listen, watch, smell and feel, setting my imagination totally free. It was the first time in years that I had been so close to nature. It was nice, so refreshing, so purifying. How should I neglect the existence of all this?

Back at home, I habitually sat down on the sofa and flicked on the television set. But I switched off the set after a minute or two, for I wanted to sit for a while, to sit in a real sense. I made myself a cup of coffee, closed my eyes and leaned back comfortably in the sofa, fully relaxed, and talked casually with my family. A wise man once said, “Sitting is an art that not everybody can do.” You’re not sitting if you’re watching TV at the same time. You’re not sitting if you’re attending a class or having a meeting. Nowadays we’re always doing something, to such an extent that we’ve actually forgotten how to sit. Have we possibly lost the ability to take the time? Besides sleeping, actually, sitting is the most effective way of recharging ourselves in the hurly-burly of city life.

With the development of modern technology, we now have bullet trains and high-speed railway services. Aircrafts can cross the world within a day while computers operate at lightning speed. We are enjoying more and more material benefits. The downside, however, is also obvious. Modern society makes people rush all the time, seldom having the time or mood to pause and ponder. We firmly believe that time is life and the faster, the better, and we take it for granted. The question is: Do we genuinely live a better or happier life? What do we do with the saved time? We seem to have deviated from the original path.