Slowing Down

The “Slow Movement” that has gained some attention and interest recently has captured me. I’ve been “working” at slowing down in many areas of my life during the past couple of years. I started this…well, I started “thinking” about this back when I became interested in the simplicity movement. Obviously, they go hand in hand. Or one would think.

Last year I broke my ankle and that physically slowed me down quite a bit for a short while but apparently I needed another, deeper lesson to slow me down further. A stroke did the job.

Yes, last October, I suffered a stroke. I was blessed, repeatedly blessed, not only because I have no long lasting or devastating effects but also because I was at work when it happened. Had I been at home it is doubtful I would have even called 911.

I had experienced, over the previous year, many small (what I NOW know) TIA’s. A TIA is a transient ischemic attack, kind of a warning stroke. I thought they were just these weird dizzy spells. My age, never having smoked, fairly good cholesterol and great blood pressure made me an unlikely candidate for stroke, yet still, I had one.

This slowed me down.

I was in the hospital for 4 days. I underwent physical therapy and this was when the damage revealed itself. I had a lot of difficulty with my balance though most of that returned within a few months. For awhile afterward, and still now on occasion, I felt “tippy”. My kids loved the phrase and used it frequently. I did not love feeling tippy. It left me feeling very vulnerable, hanging onto chair backs, door jams and running my fingers along walls for security.

Outwardly, I looked fine, I guess, and I returned to work after only a week. I felt my job was to convince everyone that I was doing just great. But I wasn’t. My greatest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to read or write. I did have some difficulty concentrating for awhile after the stroke but gradually I regained my stamina. I only wanted to sleep. My damaged brain just wanted and needed rest but…

The second half of last year was filled with events that caused me to do some re-evaluating of how I was living my life: choices I had made and continued to make on a daily basis, conditions I tolerated and, of course, the speed of my life. I discovered that rushing around does absolutely nothing to get you to your desired destination any quicker and certainly with a lot less peace.
Connections with people encountered on a daily basis become superficial and meaningless without slowing down. Even pets become just another check on the to-do list.

I wish to exhort you here to please try and slow down:

• 
  · When you walk the dog or pet the cat
  · When you fill the outside bird feeder
  · pull weeds
  · Fold laundry
  · Make a cup of tea
  · Put away the dishes

Take a few extra minutes to connect with your neighbor and really engage with the child to whom you are reading that book. Slow down and enjoy feeding your baby and when you are at your particular place of worship, get quiet, get still, experience the experience.

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! do whatever you can as soon as you can to slow down.

Do it before life makes you.