Slow Down and Get to the Next Level!

by Kysa Daniels

I’m convinced. We’ve become a nation of rats racing toward an elusive finish line. Our rip-roaring pace makes us look and feel important. Or, so we think.  Rushing here. Dashing there. We live our lives in an upside down frenzy, kinda like the best dryer at the corner laundry.  We keep going and going, flipping and flopping, until we overheat and breakdown.

Okay, brace yourself.  Here’s a totally radical solution to getting ahead in life:  Slow Down!  Yea, slow down and get to the next level. I’ve learned that when I slow down long enough to savor the day’s minutes and hours, I am rewarded by much more enriched experiences. No, you may not cross out as many tasks on your “to do” list, but you will feel refreshed, less harried and more productive, if you slow down.

Slowing down leads to improvements in project quality and personal health, just ask your doctor.  Rush leads to stress and an unhealthy amount of stress can lead to poor performance, even disease. So, slow down.  When you feel anxious or ensnared by life’s speed trap, make a deliberate move to put on the brakes.  Here are three strategies to help you slow down and get to the next level.

1. Get Up!

There’s nothing like that last hour of morning sleep. Oooh.  It feels so good and as if you’re just getting your sleep on, when: beep, beep, beep.  To which, you reply: “bleep, bleep, bleep”. (Hey. Watch it. This is supposed to be Substance & Spirit to strengthen your life.)

Anyway, here’s a typical morning, let’s say, at Betty Boop’s house.  B.B.’s alarm blares at 6 a.m.  She has to be out the door at 6:30 a.m. to make it to work for 7:30 a.m.  Before it begins, the game is already over. B.B. has to tighten her weave, shave her legs, drop off Bobby, Jr. at daycare, then drive a maddening commute. She’ll never make it.  B.B. realizes she’s losing, but she decides to do the world a favor by at least brushing her teeth and taking a speedy shower. (The weave and legs will have to wait.) A quick scan of the closet and B.B. chooses the outfit that’s least wrinkled, grabs a donut and hits the road, with Bobby,  Jr. in tow. (His teeth didn’t get brushed. “Oh what the heck,” B.B. reasons.  “He’s only 2.”)

Once on the road, B.B. encounters other disgusted drivers, like herself. They’re late too.  They’re all driving 80 and over to get to work LATE.  Neither B.B. nor you will ever get to the next level like this. 

Now, imagine.  What would have happened if you had turned off “Who Wants to Marry Joe Blow” or logged off the computer and taken your tail to bed? Perhaps, you could have awakened fresh like the morning Lilly, at 5 a.m., and spent time communing with God, seeking His direction and guidance for the day ahead.  Then, how about letting the shower beat on your shoulders to knock out some of the knots. You’re also able to properly “fix” your hair and shave.  (Your legs, which haven’t seen lotion for a couple of days, will love the pampering.)  What a wonderful start to the day! Sound like a dream?  It doesn’t have to be.  Simply, Get Up ... early enough!

2. Breathe

Incredible as it sounds, I’ve spent many days half breathing.  Really. I’d feel this incredible stress, then realize I was holding my breath. Too busy to breathe!  Brothers and sisters, we have serious issues when we don’t take time to breathe. Or maybe we just have too much going on. It’s unreasonable to expect you can “effectively” serve as PTA president, chairman of the local arts council, member of your church state-wide missions ministry and leader of the free world all at the same time. And you wonder why you can’t breathe.

Clinically speaking, breathing calms the body and nurtures the mind. According to a Toastmasters publication on effective speaking, “Correct, natural breathing is the foundation of a good voice.” (Your Speaking Voice, p. 14, Toastmasters International, 1996) I say, “correct, natural breathing” is a sign of a well-balanced life. One that is paced properly.  “Correct, natural breathing” is a big sign that you are no longer ‘waiting’, but have learned to exhale. So, breathe. Right now. Take a deep breathe in, then let it out.  We can’t let the rat race rob us of breathing ... and getting to the next level.

3. Take a Break

My husband is notorious for “breaking.”  He’ll work on a project 5 minutes, then take a break. I say, in my sweet, angelic tone: “Oh, you’re ‘already’ breaking!” His response:  “Even a mule takes a break!”  At that point, I usually want to break something all right. But, I have learned to appreciate the virtue of his words: “Even a mule takes a break!”  I’m naturally, one of those “I’m going to start this 5-day project and complete it in 5 hours”.That’s me.  Ms. “Don’t Stop Me I’m on a Mission to Complete”. Foolish.

Now, I’m not suggesting we adopt a mediocre attitude about project completion.  I am saying you should know your limitations. In his book, The Overload Syndrome: Learning to Live Within Your Limits, Dr. Richard Swenson writes:  “It is very freeing to realize that God has the resources to get the job done, and that rest is still a part of His will for us.  Conversely, it is lack of faith - coupled with an inadequate view of God - to think that we have to work twenty-four hour days to get everything done.

“Far from dishonoring God by acknowledging human limits, it dishonors Him to deny limits.” And, if I can borrow from the secular with this overused string of words: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”  Some tasks take considerable time to finish, others don’t. Discern which are which, then slow down and get the job done and get to the next level, without being stretched out and stressed out.  Because chances are, if you complete a 5-day project in 5 hours, quality has suffered.  And, that’s not good.

What is good is recognizing your life is too hurried; realizing you’re going lots of places, but getting no where; and rearranging your priorities so you’re able to Get Up, Breathe and Break.  Mahatma Gandhi once said: “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” So, for Gandhi’s sake and your own, Slow Down and get to the next level!

(Copyright 2003 Clarion Communications, Conyers, Georgia.)

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