Slow Living

The rise of anxiety & The cost of living a hurried life 

I wanted to begin this blog post with acknowledging that I don't live this “slow life” perfectly and to acknowledge that it requires a vast amount of  intentionality, attentiveness, consistency, and self discipline to work towards living a slow and gentle life. It's similar in the way for us Christians as we should be working towards imitating Jesus but accepting that we won't ever be as perfect as Jesus is. Wholeness still exists when we are working towards something. We need to start by deconstructing this idea that we aren't able to truly “live life” until we acquire something. This blog post is intended to be encouragement to start paying attention to what's right in front of you, to stop living based on achievement and productivity, and to understand the more love, grace, compassion, and joy we experience when we live a more intentional and gentle life. Sometimes as humans we make things more complicated and attempt to problem solve with surface level solutions. I wanted to challenge our perspective of anxiety and how it has been more prevalent due to the way we live our lives rather than on the problems around us. 

Slow living involves living a more simple, grounded, present life. It’s less about filling up our schedules and more about reflecting on how we are showing up in our lives currently. Living in a culture that values fast paced living impacts us in detrimental ways. Slow living invites simplicity and simplicity makes room for more intentionality, grace, and gentleness. 

Anxiety includes features of excessive fear and constant anticipation of future threat which has become quite prevalent in today's culture as we live hurried lives that are praised based on how productive we are. 

So how is this impacting our lives today? 

Living a hurried life prohibits us from being able to be present. It reduces our ability to care and pay attention to those around us. We lose control over our lives because we aren't slowing down enough to actually ask ourselves: what do I want? What do I value? What brings me joy? What makes me feel at peace? When we live a hurried life we become a product of our environment. Over time, we begin to lose a sense of ourselves and our identity will be found in things around us rather than who we truly are.  

The symptoms include feelings of restlessness, difficulty concentrating, being on edge and leads to being in a state of overstimulation and irritability so next time you're feeling this way, instead of blaming the other person, or work, or family for your feelings, reflect on how you're living your life. 

Living a slower life allows for us to cultivate more authentic and safe environments for those around us. We will be quicker to listen, and faster to understand and empathize.  If we are constantly in a rush and focusing on the next thing it impacts our ability to truly show up for those around us. It increases our curiosity and allows us to down enough to listen and understand those around us. As we become gentler we become more compassionate. It provides this space that empowers us to value what's right in front of us, to remain present, and live a deeply fulfilling life.

The value of living a slower life

Intentionality with time

One of the biggest things I've learned as I've gotten older has been the intentionality of time. What am I doing with my time? Where am I spending my time? And most importantly, who am I spending my time with? Your time is valuable. I am continuously working on this, but for so long I attempted to fit everyone in my schedule. I want to remind you that just because you have been friends with someone for a long time does not mean they deserve your time now. As you begin to recognize the value of your time, you will be more empowered to set boundaries and protect your peace. As we honor our own time, we will also better honor the time of others.

Increased self discipline 

When we slow down enough, we gain more control over our lives by choosing to focus on what's of value to us individually. We can begin to recognize what controls us. We can utilize our tools to our advantage. We control our phone usage rather than our phones controlling us. Slowing down enables us to realize the things we once were investing our time into are fleeting and based on emotions rather than of value. If we slow down enough, it makes space to think before we act and do things based on free will rather than reactivity. 

Integrating more gratitude 

When we slow down, we make more room for the smaller joys around us. Slow living invites us to focus on the things we have rather than the things we need to achieve. Our brains are wired to seek the negative in our experiences, so when we slow down enough, we will begin to train our minds to focus on the good. 

Love better and fruitful relationships 

To slow down enough to start loving those who are right in front of us. Love is prioritizing the wellness of the other person. If we are constantly living in this state of being rushed and feeling hurried then it takes away from our ability to think about others. Your responses won't be based on thorough and intentional thought, care, and love but to alleviate stress you will do it from a place of obligation rather than genuineness. When we are constantly feeling hurried, we will be in a state of hypervigilance and living in angst takes away our ability to be gentle with those around us. 

Slow living empowers us to live in a way that prioritizes what matters rather than living rushed trying to keep up with those around you. It's truly hard to cultivate authentic relationships when we are constantly seeking validation based on productivity. Let's deconstruct creating a culture that values productivity over our well being and heart.  It isn't about what we do, it's about how we show up for others. Loving people starts by just noticing them and if we are in a state of hypervigilance then it will be difficult to focus on the people in our lives.

Decreased impulsivity and increase in emotional intelligence 

We become gentler with those around us as we slow down enough to become aware of the emotions of others. As we become aware of the emotions of others, we increase empathy, improve communication and love deeper. Slowing down allows us to be attuned to others emotions rather than being guided by your own reactivity.  It isn't about what we do, it's about how we show up. Our value should be based on the ways we love others, not based on productivity. 

More God moments 

When we slow down and allow ourselves to feel our emotions then we have increased opportunities to dwell in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Slowing down allows us to see God's work in our life. How can we see the small things God is doing if we are constantly striving for the next thing? 

Living a slower life enables us to live in grace. It empowers us to make decisions based on values and our purpose rather than impulsivity and fleeting emotions. Let's slow down enough to start noticing more sunsets but to also notice the way the sun reflects on everything around it. To know the light is always there. We just have to slow down enough to notice it.