I’m back in Ireland, spending time with family and friends. I’ve been living in Australia
for almost 30 years, and every year, I make the trek across the globe for my mid-year
break, and I relish my time here.
Even though it can get a bit hectic with quality family time and trying to fit as many
catch-ups as I can, I always get time for lots of rest and tend to take stock of the year
that was, and I inevitably feel into the pace I tend to operate at. For my sensitive
nervous system, it’s a lot.
So here I am, thinking I was going to be productive and come up with lots of ideas to
write about, but nothing much is coming through except this longing to slow down.
Slowing down is not something I find easy, and I know this is true for so many of us.
Operating at a hectic pace has become a societal norm, and when we pause and
slow down, and feel our nervous system and how unregulated it is, it can be a bit of
a reckoning.
Another reason we might avoid slowing down is that we get a chance to feel feelings we
may have been avoiding and running from. More often than not, sitting with these
feelings isn’t so bad, and acknowledging them can bring a sense of peace to the
experience we don’t feel when we are avoiding.
There are so many articles telling us to slow down so we can to speed up and be
more productive. This is a tricky message; ‘We are only allowed to slow down if it
ultimately fuels productivity.’ But what if slowing down is the priority and we trust
when we need to be productive, that energy will be there on the other side of deep
rest and stillness?
What if the slowing down is exactly what is needed without needing to push
ourselves to be more, do more and have more?
The irony is when we slow down, we get a chance to feel how much we have and
how much we are….and right now, I’m feeling this….and it’s enough. I am enough.
So, here’s to choosing the radical act of slowing down, not to become more, but to
feel how much we already are.
I hope this inspires you for when you next take the time to slow down for slowing
down’s sake.
What about you? If this resonates, what would it take to make slowing down a
priority? Is there a window in your schedule on the horizon?
