Wake up, and the sun is shining through your window. You don’t have anywhere to be. You lay in bed for awhile and relax. Then, you get up and make yourself a delicious breakfast. It’s a beautiful morning outside so you go for a long walk, in no hurry at all. When you get back home you sit on your couch and realize you have the entire day in front of you with nothing to do. Yet, that doesn’t stress you out. That realization fills you with relief. You sink back as you begin to enjoy a day of living slowly. Finally, you are free from the whirlwind of life. Able to step out of the rat race even if just for a little while.

That scenario is idyllic for most of us. We have busy schedules and multiple responsibilities to handle at any given time. Most can’t afford to live like that unless its confined to a weekend or a pre-determined vacation time. Life truly is a whirlwind. We get pulled away, sucked into this thing or that. Months feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. One deadline is met, and two more pop up to replace it.

We live in a society that doesn’t value the art of living slowly, and that’s fine. This isn’t a blog where I whine about how society is messed up and “The Man” forces us to work until we’re miserable. This blog is about the importance of taking time to step back whenever you can, and how you can do it in such a fast paced world.

The Art of Becoming Stressed

A consequence of the constant rush of life is a slow but consistent build up of stress. We are all aware of the negative health effects of stress, such as increased fatigue, mood swings, and feelings of depression. When we move through each day without taking time to step back, life can quickly make the stress overwhelming. Email after email, notification after notification, deadline after deadline, always something new to look at and learn and digest. Every day you can feel like you are sinking more and more into quicksand as responsibilities pile higher and higher. Life doesn’t stop for you, so you have to force it to.

The Art of Slowing Down

It really is an art form, because it takes a lot of practice. But there is tremendous value in taking time out of each day to slow down and look at what’s around you. Even ten minutes of simply sitting and existing, not doing anything, can be extremely beneficial. Become aware of the world around you.

Living slowly is like standing on the bank of a rushing river watching the water go by, and the flowing water is the world.

It’s okay to not do anything sometimes. To simply enjoy being alive and enjoy existing. Take your time getting out of bed one day, or go for a long walk another. I try to make time each day for this, and in my own life it has helped me keep myself grounded. I encourage you to try taking time to live more slowly. Your stress goes down. You feel more grounded. You feel not so swept up by life. You feel more in control of yourself and your life.

Try to catch yourself being caught up in the whirlwind of life. Take a step back. Breathe. You’re here, you’re alive, and sometimes, even if just for a moment, that can be enough.