Slow Down

SLOW DOWN!

This letter will have unusual spacing. Stay with it!

Wake Up Get In The Shower Brush Teeth Iron Clothes Forgot To Do It Last Night Check Wallet Make Sure You Have Money For The Day Make sure Lunches Are Packed For Kids Stop At ATM To Get Money Wait On Drive Through Window Line For Coffee And Donut Listen To Top 40 Music And Mindless Drive Time Radio Babble While On Line Fight Traffic Give And Receive Middle Finger To Others Slow Down For Police Car Get To Work Exchange Pleasantries With Coworkers Look Busy For Boss Go To Bathroom Talk About Nothing In Particular Wonder If Kids Are Having A Good Day Wonder If Spouse Turned Off The Iron Go To Lunch Pay $7 For Sandwich Chips Soft Drink Decide To Start Diet Next Week Watch Clock Tick Take Phone Call From Angry Customer Boss Play Rubber Pencil For Five Minutes Go To Bathroom Do Paperwork Drive Home Fight Traffic Pick Up Dry Cleaning Get Dinner In A Bucket Make Sure Kids Did Homework Pay Bills Clean Kitchen Iron Clothes For Tomorrow Watch Friends Kiss Kids Goodnight Watch Will And Grace Brush Teeth Watch News Go To Bed.

Bet that was uncomfortable to read, huh?

How close to your own daily existence did that come?



And how much control do you have over it?



OK, two different questions...how much control do you have over the things that you do in yourday? Probably more than you think you do, but that's a story for another time.

And how much control do you have over the way you

perceive the things that happen to you?

Most people feel a lack of control because they do not have time to reflect...to make their livessomething of their own creation rather than the hand they're dealt.

Here's one idea....










Slow Down.


The average person can process information much faster than the average person can communicate it.




But we never stop trying to go faster!




It puts us in overload.





When I work with students or private clients who are experiencing a great deal of anxiety...one of the first things I do is......













Slow down.









I control the conversation to make it go slower.















It creates more anxiety at first because it upsets the usual order of things.



We're used to moving at a certain pace, and when that pace is changed....

or the

flow

of

information is

a lter ed

insomeway

we're forced to slow down and carefullyevaluate

what wesee.



It can be stressful.



But what a great purpose it serves!



How can we ever change ourselves for the betterif we never change

whatwedo?









Slow down.



Remember that jumbled mess at the beginning? Want that to take over your life?



Or has it already?









Slow down.





When I was 19 and in college, one of my favorite things to do was to go up to the top of the residence hall tower on the 22nd floor, look out at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains over sunset, see the blue sky turn yellow,





then orange,




then red,



then purple,







then black...



take it all in



without any particular agenda.



It made going out and abusing my body with alcohol and chicken wings that much easier to handle.

























Slow down.



The great mystics and spiritual leaders of the East move slowly and gracefully.



They are untroubled on a deep level by the turmoil surrounding them, though they are concerned for the welfare of their fellow humans.



Have you read all of this, or are you skimming to get to the important parts...









or have you given up in frustration?











Go back to the top and read it again.











Change your pace.

















Slow down.



If you change your pace, you change your perception.



If you change your perception, you change yourself.







Because you're already good enough...all you've got to do is find yourself in the traffic ofnoise and movement.







The boss and the coffee place and the kids and the TV will still be there.







And you'll be there too.

















You're terrific!























Slow down.






















It makes speeding up again that much more fun!