Stick to the speed limit

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

Gandhi

I have declared 2012 as my year of slowing down. I don’t know for how much longer the human race will be able to go faster and faster every day. I’ve reached my limit, and I’m turning around. It’s not easy – almost nothing worthwhile ever is – but we have to stop somewhere!

Have you ever felt so wrapped up in everything that is happening around you that you could not tell which day of the week it was? Then you should perhaps read on.

The funny thing about this superfast mad joyride that we’re on is that it isn’t fun any more. No one said life will be easy or you’ll ever find complete happiness, but pretty much all the fun is gone. We are killing ourselves trying to make humanly impossible deadlines. All of us are driving like maniacs because we left late (we had too much to do) but we can’t be late for the next big thing where we have to be. We think we are irreplaceable and “who would BE ABLE do it if I don’t?”. Even the fun things we look forward to doing turn out to be just another chore and something that has to be completed in a hurry.

Facebook, smartphones and the digital gadgets are not helping. Most people can be reached anywhere at any time of the day. As I sit here and write this on a Sunday night, my not-so-little Android smartphone is right next to me, because… maybe a friend needs me, maybe… nobody will need me and I can actually spend some time alone without external input (of a digital kind). They should have therapy groups for Facebook and smartphone addiction, I think. It’s ugly.

I’ve received the message to slow down in various forms and ways over the last few years, and at last I’m heeding. This doesn’t mean I’ll work less or do less, but it’s about getting priorities straight and making some time for God, myself and the people who are important to me. These two aspects of life will be my focus for the year – you have to chew an elephant bit by bit!

By the way, in addition to slowing down my life, I am committing myself to physically drive according to the speed limit from now on. It’s a well-known fact that our inner world affects our external lives, and the inverse is also true.

We are responsible for giving meaning to our own lives. How would anyone be able to do that when that person is swept away by the chaos that is our world today? It is, after all, every person’s own choice to decide how full his or her programme should be.

If you agree with me, or at least are thinking about this slowing down thing, you can find a number of interesting and informative articles on www.psychologytoday.com. You can start of with this article on feeling guilty and making time for yourself, and this one, which offers six reasons why you should spend time alone. They are targeted at women, but most of us share duties these days and are feeling equally overwhelmed by trying to get to every little thing.

Enough talking… writing. I’m off to go and smell some daisies! You should be doing it too!