slow down

I am so pleased to say that I have slowed down to the pace that I wanted to. I have much more of a sense of peace on a daily basis. This I am sure has been helped by daily morning pages, centerpointe meditation (just moved to level 2) and exercise. So if I keep with these daily habits, I will be fine.

Only 19 days left to achieve this. I think I am much better than I used to be. If I am stressed at work, nobody knows. I am starting to feel more in control now that I have moved back to UK and feel at home. So I will continue to slow down this month….just need to work on not overworking and getting rid of my list-to-do…

I read this poem in a book I am reading called “The 4-Hour Workweek” (great ideas here for reducing one’s workload so one can slow down!):

Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last

Do you run through each day
on the fly?
When you ask “How are you?”
do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
running through your head?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow
And in your haste,
not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
‘Cause you never had time
to call and say “Hi”?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….
Thrown away…

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

I feel like I am really getting there finally. Since I have been doing my meditation daily for nearly 3 months now, I am so much calmer overall. I have lost that rushing feeling and I know that there is still lots of stuff to do, but it can all wait. Today I am going to go and explore a nearby park which is next to the river and I am going to take my book and lie in the sun!

So there are a couple steps that will help me with this goal. Reading the book “Slow” and also the book “Confessions of an adrenaline junkie”. I also am considering setting up a “Slow Down Club” in Geneva. I am worried that this may fill up too much of my time so I will finish the first book and then see…..

My top 10 ways to slow down:
1. Have a nap
2. Go to the gym and do a workout with my IPOD
3. Go and sit on a bench in the sun
4. Talk with my Nana
5. Have a cuddle with my doggies
6. Read a fiction book
7. Do 3 pages of morning pages
8. Take time for meals
9. Leave so that I will arrive 15 – 30 minutes early for meetings
10. Clear spaces, nothing to do…..