Do you often feel harried and rushed? As though your life (to say nothing of your to-do list) is out of control? Find yourself inhaling your food rather than tasting it? Even in retirement these days, people are moving so quickly from one thing to another that there's no time at all to "stop and smell the roses." Names have even been coined for this dis-ease: "hurry sickness" and "time famine" (feeling that you never have enough time).
It's so easy to get caught up in this way of living. Those still in the workforce often are expected to pick up the work of colleagues who have been let go. Those on an upward career track feel pressure to keep moving and keep impressing the decision-makers. And those who are retired certainly don't want to be seen as slackers!
Would you like to get off this treadmill-going-nowhere? Would you like time to notice the beauty around you? It's not easy to slow down your pace when you're so used to a fast one and when everyone around you is in constant motion. But it is possible. In fact, I recently learned that there's a whole movement devoted to this: the Slow Movement. It began with the Slow Food Movement, an alternative to the fast food takeover. And it now includes slow travel, slow gardening, slow living, slow sex and more. It allows time for creativity, rest, savoring relationships and experiences. It's about living mindfully—living with awareness rather than sleepwalking through life. It's about moving at the pace that's needed, neither too fast nor too slow.
What changes and choices might you make today to slow down your life?
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