“Sometimes, in order to be the person we want to become, we don’t need to add more things, rather we need to give up on some of them.”
Every New Year we want more…we want to accomplish great things, we want to reach great heights in our career, home, relationships. We want to attain fulfilment, pleasure and satisfaction in life.
And we want to make all that happen fast. Isn’t that what we all are running for?
It’s all good and great, though sometimes (rather most of the times) while running in this race, we lose sight of our vision and higher purpose.
We are on that yellow brick road to our ultimate destination (the Emerald city) in life, but we commonly get distracted (and sometimes stuck) by the small stops & milestones on the way or even by our own emotions.
When that happens, we might experience stress, overwhelm or just lack of clarity.
So it becomes really important that time to time, we reboot ourselves to align with our highest goals and purpose in life.
If you feel, you’re super busy, have too much on your plate; the best thing you can do is – Consciously slow down!
Here are 5 reasons why I’m slowing down and 5 ways you can do it too!!
1. You enjoy life more by being more present
This is an obvious one – when we slow down we’re able to savour the moments more, enjoy and cherish them more, rather than when we’re rushing through events.
How to:
Give up multitasking. Just do one thing at a time.
Commit to one task and do that wholeheartedly whether its a conversation, cooking / enjoying a meal, a walk or workout.
Focus completely on that task, stay fully engaged and present with that and enjoy!
2. You start connecting with your inner self
When we slow down, take a pause from the hush n rush, we get an opportunity to connect with ourselves in the busy humdrum of life.
How wonderful it is to take a few days off, go to a silent place in nature far from noises and dive within.
Even though that can totally be done in the middle of all noises but it surely helps if we’re in a quiet conducive place.
How to:
Pauses – Take short pauses throughout your day. Even if it just for a minute. Take a deep breath and feel yourself!
Complete break for few days – One of the most beautiful gateway to go completely within, in an inner space of self-reflection and introspection with NO distractions, is to take a total break.
I am fortunate to start my new year with an 11 days silent meditation Vipasana course. Will share my experience once I am back from there.
Plan a spiritual break for yourself!
3. You get clarity in life and can focus on what is truly important in life
As you take a deep breath, slow down and reconnect with what is most important in life. A calm and clear energy replaces the frantic and stressed energy of mind that might be going too fast for its own good.
Then you can take better action and start doing the most important things one at a time.
How to:
Create time for an holy hour for yourself – In that holy hour, take a step back and ask yourself some important questions.
Where am I going?
What makes my heart sing?
What brings me alive?
Are my daily thoughts and activities aligned to my highest goals in life?
If not, take time to align!
4. It improves your creativity and productivity
When our mind is overloaded with so much information, to-do lists and more…there isn’t much space for creativity.
The more space we create in our head, the more productive and creative we are!
How to:
Take a paper and pen write Down all the stuff you need to do on a paper. It can also include the calls you want to make, the hobbies you want to cultivate, the errands you wan to run etc.
Then cut short your list to half, keep only the really important stuff.
Then cut it to half once again!
Keep the three topmost things on your list as per your real priority. Then allocate time to the most important things in your life and put them in your calendar
That means if you’ve been wanting to play with your family or paint, but you’ve not been able to; put that on your calendar 🙂
5. You get more balance in life
We all are too busy managing work, home, children, parents and many more areas in our life. We are literally running from one errand to another.
When was the last time when you just sat for a cup of tea, with your feet up on couch with a friend or family member; without any distractions like your phone staring at you.
When was the last time you just relaxed at home without any worries of getting things done. When there’s nowhere to rush to, no hurry to finish the homework or any other chores.
When you’re just sitting and enjoying simple chit-chats with your family.
How to:
Stop hurrying up.
Take deep breaths and enjoy all the little chores you do.
Do less but savour and enjoy them more.
Chuck the habit of rush from your mind. Do things gently.
Speak softly and slowly with your family. Accept them.
Be a Source of Joy & Happiness to yourself and others! Shine!
“If you do not shine as brightly as you’ve been destined to shine, you not only betray yourself – but the world is less of a place than it could have been.” ~ Robin Sharma
Share with us how do you stay connected with source and recharge yourself to keep shining. I would love to hear.
Much Love.