Courtesy of Interfacelift.com
Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast ~ you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” -Eddie Cantor
Oh, now that’s some good advice. And yet it lies in the bottom of my trashcan, casually tossed their after being ripped off my day by day calendar. It wasn’t until 10 AM this morning that I realized I had been running ever since my eyes had opened abruptly to my alarm ringing.
I didn’t have time to read my Bible.
I uttered a prayer while combing my hair.
And I tossed that quote in the trash.
A few days ago, I received a text from my best friend that made me stop and think. After I had spilled a list of excuses for not having time to do this and that, they replied, “I understand. But does life ever truly slow down?”
I really needed to hear that. Because I think I have a tendency to keep waiting until life slows down to finally allow myself to slow down. Someone also told me, “Duane, for you? With your character? Life won’t ever slow down.” He went on to explain that it didn’t matter if I was locked in a cage, my mind would keep me entirely occupied. I hope he was joking. But somehow I doubt…
I hear about people from the south, how they sit on their porch swings and drink tea from Mason jars.
And it sounds awesome. Minus the tea part. I’ve never been able to stomach any sort of beverage with tea in it.
So… maybe I am weird. And maybe there is no hope of me slowing down.
But maybe you have some blinding inspiration, some sort of secret method I don’t know about. Something that is even more straight forward than my day by day calendar. So my question for you today. How do you slow down?
Gotta Run!
-Duane Scott
Well, identifying it and praying about it will certainly help. You do have to force yourself. It’s like the old standby of “we should get together after things settle down.” It never happens unless you just set a time. My advice would be to try several things and see what works. Sitting on a porch may work, going for a walk, I don’t know… But the need to slow things down is definitely important.
There are so many simple “structures” to remind us to slow down from time to time:
_ Wear your watch upside down
_ Set up recurring tasks in Outlook to remind you to slow down
_ Ask a friend to text you from time to time with “slow down” in the subject line
_ Subscribe to http://www.twitter.com/JourneyJolt and put your phone notification to “on”
_ Get an egg timer and set it at your desk to go off every 15 minutes to remind you to slow down
_ …
It’s a matter of building a “slow down” thread into your journey. I’ve been trying to do this for years. I don’t have it perfected yet, but I have noticed the help that “structures” provide.
Scott, you sound like you know what you’re talking about. However, wearing my watch upside down would do my OCD brain out. The other suggestions are good though!
I can understand the OCD thing. Better not try that one!
I take my foot off the gas and coast from time to time. You have to make sure someone is not running up behind you though. ;-P
That’s what my problem is, Dusty! I’m always in a race with all the other busy people in the world.
It isn’t easy, but you gotta force yourself to stop and rest.
Slowing down is a choice…will you rule the moment or will the moment rule you? This past Sunday afternoon I choose to slow down and make up a board game with my daughter Becky…we played it for hours. Her name for the game was a bit odd…”Death to Your Kind” and it wasn’t really violent (it did have a jail and a pit of fire in it tho’) but now as I’m thinking it was a good name.
Prior to making that choice I was about to make excuses to her about why I was too busy to play with her…I choose wisely however, and it was death to my kind of excuses!
Thanks for sharing dude!
Interesting game!
“will you rule the moment or will the moment rule you”
I liked that thought. Thanks!
We all feel like we move at a frantic pace – and I suspect technology has something to do with it. And others’ expectations of us. And our own.
Oh, technology is a HUGE culprit I’m thinking. I have got to learn how to turn my phone off. I think it’s a button somewhere that slides, but not… kidding.
I think Scott has some awesome thoughts and since he deals with this very subject…
For me, it’s scheduling time. Sounds crazy right? A time to slow down and veg. But I have to do it. Typically this is for 1-2 hours after my family goes to bed. It’s just me and no one else.
Ah… I’ve always liked the hours 11-1 at night. It’s so peaceful.
Yes we need to be intentional about slowing down. Society seems to value and we ‘think’ we gain some self worth and self importance by being busy. But that is shallow ground isn’t it? Good thoughts!
You know how I do it. In the woods, on the path, legs moving.
But you must find your own way. That is the key. Don’t feel that it should look a certain way.
And I think we get there best by degrees, by incremental adjustments to our routine.
I wish we had some woods to run in… but all I got is gravel roads. Sounds lovely, tho.
Slowing down has to be an action that you cannot do without, like Breathing deeply
That’s a good quote, yogasavy!
Perhaps it’s in a sharing of the yoke … walking/working in unison … a decided discipline of serving in quietness …
There’s some good thoughts in there, S. Etole. Always appreciate your comments.
I pray that we learn to find the time for Him on our own before He needs to take action to slow us down, with illness, injury, unemplyment.. whatever it takes to get our attention.
Even if it feels like hard work and discipline.. the more time you give Him, the sweeter that time becomes until it’s not hard at all.
He knows your heart
That’s very true, Karen. I’m fairly certain I am susceptible to more sickness just because I don’t get enough sleep. I think we all would do ourselves good by sleeping a bit more…. So… I need a nap
Like this! And – yeah – not easy to slow down…
I found a way to slow down while I go fast – listening to an audiobible while cycling to work – helps a lot – and – first time on your blog – nice to meet you!
Claudia
Welcome Claudia! I appreciate your comment and look forward to getting to know you.
I get out and ride my bike. That has a way of bringing things into perspective. ‘Course I gotta slow down enough to make the time to get out. Hmmm sounds like a Catch-22. Thanks for making me think Duane.
I love bike riding. I have GOT to get back into that a bit more.
get old.
sounds positively depressing, but thanks for making me laugh Nancy
Learn from the Amish
They actually work pretty hard…but they also know how to slow down and rest!
Michelle, we got a few of those around her. I’ll observe.
I live in the south and have for most of my life, and I don’t like sweet tea, either. Maybe that’s why I have trouble slowing down, too.
Something that I started doing a few months ago is actually taking a Sabbath–not just going to church but spending the whole day relaxing with my family. I work hard the whole week through, but on Sunday I worship and enjoy all the blessings God has given me. There’s definitely a reason God commanded we take it….
my son forces me to slow and to breathe and to utter help… and to be.
thank you for your encouragement on my blog today, brother.
praying rest for you in the race of the world…
Honestly, I agree with the idea of scheduling it in. Literally. From 9:00-10:00 you will turn off your phone, twitter, facebook, etc., and you will read or write or pray or run or whatever. And you are alone! I think those times help put the rest of your day into perspective, and you start to pick up on other ways to slow down.
Hey Marty, good thoughts in this post. I think most of us need to slow down more, especially in this society/culture that always seems to be running a race. These comments all offer good support and suggestions. I love what HisFireFly said, so I’ll second that. I do think God finds a way to get our attention; it’s been a lot of different things for me, like change of circumstances and losing touch with a lot of friends for several reasons. Even so, I still get caught up in the doings of life and let the days just carry me along and swallow me up sometimes. And even being alone, though it’s important, doesn’t always automatically mean I’ve slowed down – like your friend who commented on how your mind doesn’t slow down.
I like what people like Thoreau have said (and several blog friends in other contexts) that we must live “deliberately” or “intentionally”. When faced with a choice of how to spend our time, I think we need to do more praying…and then obeying. Every time I think about this, it seems so beautiful and simple, but living it is something else entirely. I trust God will give me strength, and I can already tell He’s working in me about this.
Hope you find your way of slowing down, brother. It’s sweet to be still.
you want to know why they sit on the porch and drink tea in the South? Because it’s too darn hot to move down here. the heat seriously slows everything, whether you want it slow or not.
I feel like that often.
Have you ever trued meditation or yoga?
*sigh*
Something I have been struggling with for a long time…….in fact, I have been loving and screaming the song Slow Down by Third Day til I blow out my vocal chords (which I am pretty sure most are happy about)
Oh, I don’t want to let go
Of all the things that I know
Are keeping me away from my life
Oh, I don’t want to slow down
No, I don’t want to look around
But I can’t seem to work it out
So help me, God
I think it’s all in our heads. We live in a “microwave generation” where everything happens so fast that we have forgotten what it’s like to slow down. We want everything NOW & there’s not time to wait for anything. Think we need to adjust our mindset & discipline ourselves to slow down.
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