The art of slowing down
I have tried for quite a few years to learn the art of slowing down. I have failed miserably. I felt unbeatable and thought, best is to get as much out of life as possible whilst being alive.
Two things have altered my thinking lately.
The other day I had an afterwork glass of red wine with a buddy at the local pub. We hadn’t seen each other for a while, so he launched in and gave me a quick update. Wife and kids are good. Work’s fine. No big health issues or major life challenges.
But he still didn´t seem happy. Nor did he smile a lot. His voice actually sounded unhappy. So I asked why.
“Even if life seems more than ok, I just don´t feel ok. I have no space whatsoever in life. And I am doing something every single second of my day. The first I do every morning is grab my phone. Immediately I open my eyes. I start scrolling through messages and emails, checking posts and skimming news articles that is only vaguely interesting. And this routine sets the tone for the rest of his day. From that moment, until my head hit the pillow again at night, my life is a race from one activity to the next.”
That was me in a nutshell! And like him I realize, my way to get any calm time is normally binge-watching a tv show to distract myself from the daily grind. Because I don´t have enough energy to do something that feels more meaningful.
I have played this game for so long, I have problems ending this behavior.
Does this sound familiar?
I know I am not alone. Many of us are living some version of this story: we’re so busy doing that we don’t know how to stop.
Fortunately unfortunately I have had two life defining moments this past year. The concussion and another incident which I will tell you about tomorrow. Since then, I have adopted mindfulness to be able to slow down and take pauses in life. So far, so good. Highly recommended.
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