BAJATE! VIVE SIN PRISA!
Las Palabras: Bajate! Vive Sin Prisa - Slow down! live without haste; Autopista - Turnpike; Si El Dios Quiere - If god wishes; Poco a Poco - little by little
The overpasses on the autopista between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta are posted with signs telling people to slow down and live without haste or hurrying. I think it is a really sweet way to get speeders' attention. A pal was quick to tell me - there's a mesage there; they are trying to tell us something, don't you think? Methinks the message says something more than quit driving your car so fast. While I have watched Mexico moving ahead in the world's economy and within the country, there is something so reassuring and comforting about a country which continues to maintain a national philosophy that tells us we will live longer if we just slow down. I think it pretty much sums up one of the main reasons so many of us have gravitated south.
Moving here requires not only leaving behind the rush hour life, shop till you drop, spend to the end existence most of us were living but it also means a major shift from impatience to patience, intolerance to tolerance and the faith that whatever it is we think we needed yesterday will arrive manana or will get done poco a poco...just wait and see but be prepared to wait awhile! If you try to get someone to say positively they will do something by any certain date you will most likely hear - "si el dios quiere!" I'm not so sure this is faith based as much as a way to tell you no one can guarantee anything positively in life, so relax.
Entonces, moving to Yelapa is taking the slow down philosophy just a teeny bit farther. While I love going to Puerto Vallarta to visit friends, visit the big stores and see the sights, I am always relieved to leave behind the noises, crowds and much louder hum of the city. I have been asked again and again how I stand living here year round, through heat and rain, humidity and bugs, electrical outages, too much water or not enough water. I'm astounded that the small stresses I live with could ever be compared to traffic jams, crowds and louder, more insistent noise and work intrusions which seem to be the norm outside of the pueblo. I have been watching a friend, who recently took up full time residence, finally grasp the manana concept - she was so busy and task oriented and is now perfectly guilt free spending a couple of rainy days watching three seasons of a popular show on DVD. Our lists will keep, the rains will stop (someday) and life will move quickly or slowly without any need for us to do anything but be willing to have an accepting heart and a belief that slower is not a bad thing.
In the spirit of what I have now adopted as my personal motto - slow down, live without hurrying - I enthusiastically sign off to go forth with my little wonder dog to visit friends, have a swim between storms and just fritter away a lovely, green hilled, blue skied Sunday afternoon.
Deseo lo mismo para ustedes! I wish the same for you!
Maria



