5 Reasons to Slow Down Right Now

Recently, I came down with a cold lasting almost an entire week, and I hardly felt like accomplishing much. While wallowing in sneezing fits and fevered exhaustion is far from how I envisioned summer’s start, I believe that this downtime has served a vital and important purpose.

Let me explain. I’m someone who does NOT slow down. Someone who’s planner is usually booked to the brim. I’m always on the go, and that’s how I like to be. Yet, with the constant routine and busyness that encompasses my day-in and day-out…I came to the realization that this hub-bub of life can cross a very toxic line. It can take over. In fact, it HAD taken over my life. Now, it took me succumbing to sickness to recognize this realm of atrocity existing in each check list and pre-planned event. However, my hope is that I can relate to you in this epiphany, and you won’t endure such a harsh life lesson to figure it out as I have. Here’s why:

1. When life is hectic (and, come’on, it’s always hectic in one way or another), we tend to stop actually living. We become soo caught up in our daily to-dos that we seldom remember that life is so much more than these mundane tasks.
2. Our titles become who we are. Whether yours is “mom,” “grandfather,” “professor,” “boss,” “student,” “employee,” etc…These aren’t who you really are! These simply describe a portion of what you do. Allowing your identity to be wrapped up in one or more of these titles is to shorten your worth to the extent at which these apply.
3. De-stress. Umm, this is a HUGE one, so listen up. We need to slow down in order to de-stress. Don’t let one crappy moment define the whole day. Don’t allow the stress to have control. I get it. Believe me, I do. We’re over-booked, under-payed and often unappreciated. Many times, I’ve heard coworkers grumble that there just aren’t enough hours in the day, and…they’re right. The sooner we realize that there’s not enough hours in the day to accomplish our 5 star goals, the better. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have high goals. I’m saying we shouldn’t stress about them so much. Our perceived shortcomings shouldn’t be our focus.
4. Slowing down even for a couple minutes can have an incredible impact on our happiness! Taking a moment to focus on something you truly enjoy, getting to know yourself, spending time away from our phones and planners and computers and demands that are constantly thrown our way. Try it for a week. You’ll be surprised at the results.

5. You need time to refocus. To reset. To redo. Don’t torture yourself with thoughts of what is left to accomplish. Instead, focus on what you’ve already completed. Be proud of who you are and what you’ve done. Reestablish the motivation behind your goals, and proceed with triumph and confidence.

Well, that’s it! Not exactly a “secret” recipe, but something I’ve learned to love and instill in my everydays. I leave you with the quote below ❤: