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"Slow down - happiness is trying to catch you" - unknown
It is not easy. We are conditioned to run. We are told to keep moving. From early days in our childhood, everything is always a race. If we stop or slow down, we do not win!
Flowers pass by and eat our dust as we speed past them. Greatest creations of nature, unparalleled in their beauty - the flowers, birds, sunsets, lush green grass ... they do not even find themselves worthy of a second glance from us. Perhaps, it is destiny that keeps us running in life. However, some day, we have to take a breath and stop to smell flowers - to get a small moment of carefree happiness... like this butterfly
Take a moment to enjoy life
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How to slow down
Slowing down requires some deliberate efforts. Believe me - I have tried. It just feels so alien that initially we fill anxious. Something seems amiss about not moving fast. Therefore, let us look at some things that we need to do to slow down and enjoy life...
- Breathe Literally - get into the habit of taking a deep breath often. Exhale slowly and feel the pleasure.. Something like this Red Avadavat seems to be doing 😀
Take a deeeeeeep breath
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Focusing on our breath brings us into the present and helps us calm down. This is essential for slowing down...
Eat slowly
Wolfing down food is a habit that we have developed in our busy work life. We need to break that. We need to remember that we have all the time in the world. We need to look at the food, feel the texture, flavor and savor it. Look how this oriole takes a moment to savor the fruit before it gobbles it up
Savor the food
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Slow eating does not mean sitting and having a TV dinner for 2 hours. The TV actually distracts us from food. Slow eating means focusing on the food and enjoying it.Focus on people
Most of the time, we are with people - friends, family, colleagues.. We do not, however focus on them and pay attention. We are too distracted by devices, messages, chats and what not. We really miss out on connecting with people and being in the present.
Focus on people-look into their eyes and connect
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We need to make eye contact and really connect with people. This removes the urge from us to attend to a million other things at the same time and helps to slow down. It relaxes us to have a good conversation with someone we connect with.
- Do not multi task
Multitasking is a way of life for us. It was great when we could do it, during our hectic work lives. The habit, if carried forward in retirement, can do more harm than good. We feel proud of ourselves that we are accomplishing more in less time but ultimately, we are putting unnecessary stress on ourselves. TIME is a plenty in retirement - isn't it Then why do we have to accomplish two things at once. Let us NOT be like this Kingfisher who was trying to eat two fish at once...
Do NOT multi-task - One at a time is better - unlike this guy!
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The kingfisher actually tried to smack both fishes at once on the branch but ended up losing the grip on both and lost them! So, multi-tasking did not really help him.
We too, can take things at a slower pace- do them one at a time with full focus and enjoy doing that. It definitely helps to reduce stress and slow down.
These are some of the things I have started implementing and I can assure you - they work! It is no rocket science to implement these simple habits either - Do try them out and provide feedback
I am sure many of us on the #silverbloggers community have already implemented these trick or may even have some other tricks up their sleeves to slow down, enjoy life and smell flowers. Do comment freely and let us know your own recipes for slowing down...
Cheers everyone, Have a great day.
