Monday, April 27, 2026
A dear friend said to himself at dinner, “Put down the fork.” And I added, “Take your finger off the trigger.”
Before I started living intentionally, I shoved food down my throat, usually in front of the TV. I never tasted, smelled, or enjoyed it.
Many of us are caught in urgency. Something happens, and we’re swept out to sea. Anger arises, tempers flare, panic sets in—and away we go. Each time we’re pulled asunder, thrashing is futile. It’s too late by the time we hit “send,” react violently, or stuff our faces with Doritos.
When you’re rushing in a frenzy, it’s time to put down the fork: the constant doing and the busyness. Thomas Lodge said, “Pluck the fruit and taste the pleasure.” If you can slow down, you can begin to sense your finger on the trigger. As you drift from the riptide that sweeps away millions, you begin to find the space that is slow to thrash and control—slow to blow up, slow to grab and rush, slow to go with the crowd, and slow to pull the trigger.
Instead, you’ll be eager to sit a while, eager to remain comported, and eager to take your time. You’ll be eager to be tender, to connect, to taste, to enjoy, and to play. If you’re eager to “get through it,” you don’t understand earnestness. There is no “getting through it.” There is, however, a wonderful tasting of pleasure in all things—especially in nothing: just being.
Allow yourself to be slow, and reactivity has no prayer. That’s kairos time—the opportune time. That’s the richness of possibility, now. In kairos time, it feels like there is no barrier, no running out, no “too much,” and not a single thing about which to be urgent.
So, put the fork down! Are you trigger happy, or just happy having no gun?