Day 279 - They're Catching Up to Us Slowing Down

I can't help but notice how our culture is about speeding up and getting ahead at a faster and faster pace and the stress is killing us. Those of us coping with serious fatigue issues, for whatever reason, find ourselves out of that loop and I think sometimes we feel like life is passing us by. Well, while we're sitting and contemplating that possibility, there is a group of people supporting our way of doing things. The Slow Movement was founded in 1986 to protest the opening of fast-food restaurant in Rome. Since the late eighties, they have been working against the message that if you want to succeed you better hang on tight and pick up the pace as things swirl and change all around you. Instead, they encourage us to slow down because our basic need for love, connection, acceptance and a sense of community don't change even though the the pace of life may encourage us to put those needs aside.

Many Europeans have adopted this no-rush attitude and the results have been quite positive. Rather than people doing less or accomplishing less, they have actually increased their productivity as well as their quality of life by paying attention to what they are doing, one thing at a time, and thus experiencing much less stress. I certainly notice for myself that when I am not stressed my memory is better (so I'm not racing around looking for things I can't find or making errors because my mind feels scattered and rushed), I have a bit more energy and I feel calmer and on an even keel. This no-rush attitude doesn’t represent getting less accomplished. It means working and doing things with greater intention, quality, productivity, and excellence, with attention to detail and consequently less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time.

In accepting my current limitations, I have made many adjustments in my life. I have slowed down, I do one thing at a time, I don't rush, I prioritize and I make the most of every minute I spend with family and friends. When I was working I felt very focused at the office because I knew that my time there was limited so I felt like I was on track and got lots accomplished. My hubby has said that he is amazed at how much I can get done with the limited time and energy I have available to spend on tasks. We folks with energy issues may be onto something here. We know there isn't an endless amount of time we can spend doing chores, shopping, socializing or working at our jobs away from home, so we are in the moment and putting all we've got into what we're doing while we're doing it. I may have slowed down, but I never realized there was an entire movement backing me up.