Slowing Down

Good day!

I just read a post on LinkedIn where a fellow author talked about being way too busy to visit the site often enough to reap any benefits, then followed up the post with another, sharing that she'd just had her eyes opened to the fact she was living her life way to fast when she received a speeding ticket. Her "story" inspired this post.

Like most of us, I can fill my days to the brim and have little time left for anything else but eating and sleeping. But I choose not to. That has never made me happy, and I don't handle high stress well. So a long time ago, I carefully chose not to "be too busy". How do I do this? Well, I guarantee it's not because I have any less life to live than most. I believe, and my choices reflect this belief (in other words, I practice what I "preach"), that most of us always have a choice. Our busy schedule will only be as busy as we allow. No matter how insurmountable your schedule may seem, take a deep, examining look and you'll find you can shift or remove things from that schedule that will indeed free up some of your time for much needed reflection, rest or social activities.

It's a choice (in most cases, not all). A choice I personally made a long time ago when I realized I couldn't live at a high level of stress or be too busy. I needed reflection time, time to exercise and time to be a friend, mother and wife, and time to do it well. I make that time on a daily bases with the exceptions being limited and short-term.

To my point, many of us find the time for exercise, squeezing it in during early morning, mid-day, evenings, late at night or in small bursts all throughout the day. The end result is that you have "found time" to exercise. On the flip side, others claim they have no time to exercise when the truth of it is, they don't want to fit it into a schedule they already feel is overwhelming. Bottom line: we have time for whatever we make time for. And if you think you don't have time to make or enjoy friendships, or reap the benefits of exercise, or just do nothing for a while, try looking again.

Of course, like everything in life there are exceptions. But for the most part, the majority of us can choose how we live, and our busy schedules that keep us from the things we need or want to do should be temporary. Being too busy for something we want to enjoy or experience should be a short-term issue, not a daily, long-term way of life. Life will always throw curves, but we should find our way around those curves and back onto a path at a pace we can enjoy to the fullest.

I simply suggest most of us do have time for the important things in life if we are willing to rearrange and shift for them. And I also suggest each of us take the time to slow down. Really slow down. Time, even just an hour out of our day, to reflect or be at rest can make such a difference. You'll be a better you.

I hope this has been helpful and/or eye-opening to some of you. Good luck, and may you "find the time" for all the things you enjoy and love.