It's A Slower Pace

For a large part of my life, I became use to rushing from one place to another, rushing to get to work on time, rushing home from work, fighting 5:00 rush hour traffic, rushing to get errands done, rushing to get dinner done, rushing to take my daughter to practice. Rush. Rush. Rush. Seems like our lives just get busier and busier.

Then, I moved to South Carolina.

This is where I discovered, not everyone is in a rush. As a matter of fact, no one (except those of us from up North) ever seems to "rush" to do anything. Back home, I use to hate standing in line at the grocery store. Did I really need to wait for the person in front of me to count out the correct change? Can't they just break another dollar and move on? Afterall, I was in a rush! Now, I wait patiently in line, pick up a magazine from the rack and skim through it, no mumbling "c'mon, hurry up people" coming from under my breath! I just wait and it doesn't totally stress me out!

I will admit, before I adjusted, and sometimes still, I would get a little frustrated with this new found slower way of doing things. But, I do have to admit, it's kind of nice. Rather than fight the 5:00 traffic, I enjoy the calm 45-minute drive home from work. It's mostly country roads and it's actually kind of peaceful and pretty relaxing. I can have a stressful day of work (because no one else is in a hurry to do anything) and instead of driving home in heavy stop-and-go traffic and my stress level escalating, I can sit back, make the drive at my own pace and enjoy the scenery of blue skies, cotton fields, lush green trees and bright pink and purple flowers.

Yep, definitely a slower pace. But...why rush?

South Carolina Stole My Heart

I recently had a good friend of mine say to me, "so, South Carolina has stolen your heart huh?" I could only respond by saying, "your absolutely right!" I moved here about a year and a half ago and it was one of the best things I could have ever done. Sure, I miss all my friends and family that I left behind in Ohio, but, someone else recently said to me, "this is your home now," and they too are absolutely right!

Since moving here I've learned a lot about life in the south. The people definitely are friendlier and yes, strangers will wave to you when you drive by them as if they've known you for years. They like shrimp with their grits, you can never have too much hot sauce and yes, they like their tea sweet!

I'm fortunate to live in a small, quiet town that's close to a lot of attractions and we even have a Shoney's and a Walmart. It's just a short drive anywhere to get a piece of history, some sun at the beach or just a really good meal that reminds you of grandma!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sit on my front porch with a good book, a warm spring breeze and a glass of that sweet tea.