15. Don’t wait in ambush; don’t bring things to a painful point; don’t try to be the fastest.

Here’s another set of reminders about our habitual way of relating with others: we wait until the time is right to attack, keep going in a conflict until it hurts and always compete and try to outdo others. The path of courage and compassion, however, is to open my heart and relate directly with each situation in the moment. This allows me to let go of the “us and them” story and make friends with my own suffering and that of others without creating a competition.

One symptom of “trying to be the fastest” is the widespread speediness and compulsion to accomplish and accumulate that shows up in every aspect of our 24/7 industrialized, consumerized and electronically connected existence. Look at your own life. Do you find yourself always trying to do more, be more, have more? Does this even apply to your experience of spirituality? Remember, the path is not a race and the only prize at the “end” is death.

11.2025