Slow Down: What's YOUR Why?

As my focus this month is all about slowing down and creating a simpler life, it makes sense before we get too far into the month to delve a bit into the reasoning. Why is this such a desire for so many of us? If you look around, most people are living a busy, full life – and we have been conditioned to think that this is normal and an indication of success. But is it really? Are we so busy that we are missing important moments? Missing the journey? If life has gotten THAT busy, then I say YES, we ARE too busy.

A great analogy is a road trip. Some people like to get in the car, buckle down and get to their destination. No stopping. Others enjoy taking their time driving, and stopping at interesting points along the way – they are fully engaged in the entire journey. Is one method better than the other? Maybe not for a vacation, but if you take that perspective and apply it to everyday life, I think there IS an apparent “better” way. Personally, I want to be someone who enjoys the WHOLE trip, drive, and all. I don’t want to be at the end of my life realizing I was so busy every day “getting somewhere” that I missed the journey.

That is probably MY biggest why. However, there are other great reasons to consider slowing your pace a bit and enjoying a simpler life, such as:

Less stress. Stressed out people are not happy people.
Health concerns. When our bodies are constantly in “go, go, go” mode, we wear ourselves down, we don’t take the time to take care of ourselves and often end up sick. I know when I’ve been in periods of high work/stress, invariably I’ll end up with a cold or injury and feel miserable.
Time for what is important. If your schedule is so packed and you have tons of stuff to take care of, you don’t have the time to say “yes” when a friend needs you, or your child wants to play a game. I want the room in my life to say YES to what is important.

So what is YOUR why? Do you want to slow down and simplify? Do you even feel it’s possible? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

I’m on Day 7 in both books and have been enjoying each day tremendously. What insights have I gleaned so far?

From the book 30 Days to a Simpler Life it’s pretty obvious that I am an Organized Simplifier – I kept nodding my head while reading that description. My favorite line is in Chapter 3 “What most of us don’t have enough of is time. Stuff takes time. If you want more time, own less stuff.” This book is practical and hands-on in regards to actually eliminating clutter – it’s very task-oriented. I do find that some of the chapter tasks are not really something I can do in an hour or less. For instance the clothing chapters – I got a good start on it, but no way could I finish that in the time I’ve allotted to this project each day. Not beating myself up about it – just being realistic and figuring that some progress is better than no progress.

The other book, How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most is more cerebral. I’ve found myself spending more time journaling and thinking long-term versus “what can I do today”. I am starting to get into more practical actions, so perhaps the later chapters deal with that. Favorite chapters so far? Definitely Day 5 – this line from the chapter says it all: “If you want to connect meaningfully, sometimes that means you have to be the one to step up and make it happen.” I’m also a big fan of Day 7 – Have Fun at Least Once a Week – although I try to have fun everyday!

Have you been following along? Any nuggets of wisdom?

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