{"id":4837,"date":"2018-02-17T06:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-02-17T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/?p=4837"},"modified":"2018-02-13T14:00:58","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T22:00:58","slug":"slowing-down-changed-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/slowing-down-changed-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How Learning The Art Of Slowing Down Changed My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTake a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is important this very second.\u201d \u2013 Gregory McKeown<\/em><\/p>\n

Walk, Don\u2019t Run.<\/p>\n

The three words that drove me berserk as a child.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to\u00a0walk\u00a0<\/em>into the pool, I wanted a full sprint in order to propel my cannonball jump even further.\u00a0 And I couldn\u2019t believe the audacity of the grey-haired teacher with mix-matched clothes that effectively halted my hallway hurry to recess, at least until I could slip around the corner out of sight.<\/p>\n

I kept the same full-tilt pace into adulthood.\u00a0 But this time I wrongly misjudged it.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see where I was jumping and the hallways seemed to go on forever.\u00a0 I always felt like I was running, finishing one thing and immediately on to the next.\u00a0 A head-down sprint, with one foot blurring in front of the other \u2013 but I never looked up to see where it was that I was actually going.<\/p>\n

When did being busy become so glorified?<\/em><\/p>\n

I think a little part of my soul died after college.\u00a0 During my studies, I had a major that required 30 hours of clinical per week, with supporting night classes, and in addition to that I also worked 30 hours a week.\u00a0 It was what had to be done at the time and I really never thought twice about it. \u00a0I\u2019m sure many others shared the same path.\u00a0 But when I was finished, I was never able to slow back down to a normal pace.\u00a0 I became so engrossed in work and I never turned down overtime.\u00a0 It was what you did, it made sense, and nobody ever told me otherwise.<\/p>\n

What I find strange is that we tend to praise people who work 50, 60, or 70 hours a week.\u00a0 It\u2019s seen as noble.\u00a0 There\u2019s almost a tinge of admiration when someone remarks, \u201cShe\u2019s a hard worker\u2026\u00a0<\/em>Or\u2026\u00a0 He\u2019s a real go-getter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I remember thinking that if I were at a dinner or any sort of get-together, and once the formalities of\u00a0where are you from<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0what is your occupation<\/em>\u00a0were covered, I would have absolutely nothing to contribute to the conversation.\u00a0 At the time, I hadn\u2019t traveled much, I hadn\u2019t seen a film recently that really moved me, I hadn\u2019t read a book lately challenged my way of thinking.\u00a0 I had no opinions about anything.<\/p>\n

And furthermore, I was missing out on important time.\u00a0 I still regret to this day the hours of overtime I picked up.\u00a0 Those hours resulted in precious time lost that I could have been spent with my mother before she died.\u00a0 Hours I will never be able to get back.\u00a0 Or there was the time my brother was showing his art in an exhibit and my family, although unmaliciously, didn\u2019t invite me.\u00a0 They had just assumed I was already working.<\/p>\n

Everything felt like a constant blur and I had to make it stop.\u00a0 I took some time off work and spent a few months traveling abroad.\u00a0 I visited a slew of cities and small towns, throwing in the occasional must-see sight or day trip.\u00a0 But what I really did was a lot of walking.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t in a hurry; I didn\u2019t have anywhere, in particular, to ever be.\u00a0 It was oddly liberating.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t remember the last time I sat and had a cup of coffee and just enjoyed it, instead of trying to get the caffeine boost into my body as fast as I could.\u00a0 I read books at my leisure and watched numerous plays.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t distracted from my surroundings because I wasn\u2019t constantly scrolling through my phone, trying to keep up with emails and notifications.\u00a0 I noticed people, their mannerisms.\u00a0 I noticed little side streets and alleyways.<\/p>\n

When I talked to someone, I was truly present.\u00a0 Wherever I was, there I was.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019m consciously trying to walk through my life instead of run.\u00a0 I tried to implement the lessons learned away from work and to recreate and incorporate them into my normal day-to-day life. Albeit archaic, I think walking is becoming my favorite mode of transportation.\u00a0 I like the slowness. I want more of it.\u00a0 I am no longer full-speed ahead.<\/p>\n

I still feel like at times the world is buzzing around me, a hum of technology, news, and politics always encircling us.\u00a0 And maybe you feel this way too.\u00a0 But you can choose your speed.\u00a0 You can stop the glorification of being busy.<\/p>\n

Slow your anxious feet, lift your head, and look towards the horizon.\u00a0 See where it is that you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n

But if you happen to come across a pool, you\u2019re still fully encouraged to run right for it.<\/p>\n

About The Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Malinda Meadows is an Ohio native who was letting grief blanket her life.\u00a0She found healing through traveling and nature.\u00a0 She discovered changes of location\u00a0led to changes in her mindset.\u00a0\u00a0It helped her process grief and forge a new path with greater optimism and happiness. Realizing the benefit of deliberate change, she now leads a more balanced and mindful life inspired by simple changes.\u00a0She blogs regularly at\u00a0malindainthesnow.com<\/a>\u00a0to help others find change, however small, outside their box in order to live a happier, healthier life.<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/disconnect-5-ways\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTake a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is important this very second.\u201d \u2013 Gregory McKeown Walk, Don\u2019t Run. The three words that drove me berserk as a child.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to\u00a0walk\u00a0into the pool, I wanted a full sprint in order to propel my cannonball jump even further.\u00a0 And…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4838,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4837\/revisions\/4838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}