Why We Need to Slow Down

We live in a society that shoves it down our throat every minute of the day: we need to be doing something. If you’re free, you must be forgetting something. If you have a break, you must not be working yourself hard enough. Lack of sleep and poor nutrition are signs that someone is a hard worker and cares about what they’re doing. 

When you forget to look up, and forget to reflect on your life at the moment, it can create a lot of long-term conflicts and affect your overall happiness. What I’ve noticed is that in my most busy moments in life, where I’ve felt like I was drowning in a list of things I had to get done, things people expected of me, and things I expected of myself, I was unhappy. This may or may not be due to the lack of free time, but also by the fact that I let people and things linger in my life because it was easier than creating a conflict.

When it comes to allowing people in your life out of convenience, I’m extremely guilty. It’s tiring to constantly reflect on whether certain people in your life are meant to be there. I always took the easy way out, and I knew I just didn’t have energy to invest in removing these people from my life. The bottom line is, if someone’s not meant to be in your life, they are the one making you feel this way. Not only that, this the most beneficial and convenient time for you to get rid of them, because you will be distracted constantly and have something else to put your energy towards. Time and time again, I wonder how it’s possible for me to get rid of someone that was so important at one point. The reality is, I’m constantly growing and changing, and so is everyone else around me. It’s not likely that I will vibe the same way with someone as I did a year ago or two years ago. If I’m lucky, the connection will change and still work. However, if you’re not lucky, that’s okay too. You just have to be brave enough to let go of what isn’t meant for you.

If you never look up, you get stuck in a routine. It’s easier to stay in the job that’s draining you rather than look for a new one. Sometimes, it’s easy to get stuck in how your life is right now, because all you know is your day-to-day schedule. I don’t want to live the same day all my life. Life’s about change. It’s exciting, it’s nerve-racking, but at the same time, it’s uncomfortable. It’s okay to be uncomfortable. My point is that life is short. If you don’t look up, you’ll miss it. Be brave enough to leave your comfort zone and evaluate everything in your life every once in a while. It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day, but you have to realize the importance of breaking out of that.

• empowerment
• mental health
• self-care
• wellness
• Women's History Month