I ain’t got time for that.

I was in Italy… and still telling myself I didn’t have time.

Standing inside the Duomo in Florence, staring up at that famous clock, trying to figure it out.

Step one, step two, step three.

Wrong.

Start over.

Still wrong.

And the thought shows up right on cue.

I ain’t got time for that.

Which is ridiculous, because I’m in Italy. Of course I have time.

But that voice doesn’t care where you are.

Later that night, I went to a restaurant Jaime recommended.

She said it’s like your nona is cooking.

Just get there when it opens.

I get there with Marc... and there’s a line.

A long one.

Same thought.

I ain’t got time for that.

Especially not for a restaurant.

But we stay.

When you finally get inside, you don’t sit at your own table. You sit with whoever’s there. You talk, or you don’t really enjoy it.

So I sit.

A Swedish couple. An Italian guy who doesn’t speak English, a little shy but still trying. A menu none of us fully understand. Even the Italian guy.

We’re pointing at things, figuring it out.The Swedish couple invites me to visit them. We exchange emails.

The guy saysgoodbye and goes on his way. Just like that.And I realize... if I had walked away, I would have missed all of it.

Not just the food.

The moment.

It reminded me of the Roll Up in Pilates. That point where your body wants out.

Where everything in you would rather avoid the work.You can stop there.Or you can stay.And if you stay, you get over something that felt impossible just seconds before.

That dinner was the same.If I had listened to that voice and left, I would have missed the whole experience.

The people. The conversation.The part that made it memorable.

And it made me realize how quickly we opt out of things that might actually giveus something just because they take a little time.

How often we leave right before it changes.

How often staying is the whole point.If you’re ready to stop rushing through it, I’d love to have you at the retreat.

About

Melissa Van is a Pilates instructor, retreat leader, and writer based between the US and Europe, with over 20 years of teaching experience. She helps women over 45 stay active with a portable Pilates practice that fits into their lives through personalized coaching, retreats, and weekly reflections on movement and travel in her newsletter, Notes from the Road. Join her in Tuscany to move, laugh, and make friends with women who refuse to slow down.