I don’t know about you but I’ve always heard (and, of course, never paid much attention to) that the Universe will give you messages and if you don’t heed them, you’ll get other messages in ways that you can’t avoid. If I had paid more attention to this, perhaps I wouldn’t be going through all of this right now. Don’t get me wrong – I am not going through nearly what others are enduring right now so I’m not complaining at all.  In fact, I think it’s been good for me because I’ve learned so much in just a few short months. And one of those lessons is what I want to talk about today.

I’ve also been taking a coaching program that’s called the Psychology of Eating and it’s been phenomenal (with so much more to go too).  It’s not about the conventional methods that people use to take off the weight. One of the prime concepts is to slow down.

I think I mentioned this concept when I discussed embracing the journey not the destination. But it’s so important for us to slow down so we can figure out where we’re really going. Often when we decide on our destination while rushed and hurried, the associated stress response doesn’t allow us to make as wise a choice as we would if we slowed down and took our time to evaluate all courses of action and the pro’s and con’s of each. When was the last time you did that? Haven’t you felt rushed to make a decision. It seems to be part of our culture now. If you go to make a purchase, there’s inevitably someone standing over your shoulder pressuring you to make a choice NOW.  Can you think back to some of these decisions and see if, in the long run, they were the best decisions? Were these the journeys you really wanted to go on?

We need to slow down in everything we do. I know it sounds like I’m talking about a dream world because “that’s just not the way life is in this day and age!” Yeah, I get it. I’ve been there, done that and have lots of T-shirts.  I am aware that making changes is difficult (the subject of upcoming posts) but what about starting with just ONE aspect in your life that you think you might be able to make a change and slow down – at least for a little while to see if it makes a difference. Remember that you make the rules. No one is forcing you to do anything and certainly no one is saying how long you have to do an experiment for. I’m just trying to get you to make those determinations for yourself BEFORE the Universe decides it’s time to send you the message – ha ha.

Do you eat fast? Do you multi-task as you eat? Can you change that? For at least one meal? Can you turn off the TV or sit away from the computer while you eat just one meal? Try taking 5 deep breaths before you start eating. Remember to be thankful for the food and look at it with love (I am hoping that you prepared it with love too – food really does digest better if it’s been prepared with love). Then take your time with each mouthful. Don’t just shove it in forkful after forkful. Take time to chew slowly and taste the food – having good quality food helps with that too.

What else can you slow down in? Can you start your day with meditation or relaxation? Maybe you’ll have to get up a few minutes earlier but see if it will be worth it – you can try it out on the weekend if you’d like – just to see how it goes.

Make a list of areas where you think your life is fast. This might take you a few days to figure out because you might have to pay attention as you go through the days. Maybe you need the help of a coach or even a good friend. You can even reply here and see if others can give you some help.

I just know that I have learned to slow down and enjoy things as I go along – even if they are not pleasant things. I am revising my outlook to see what I can learn (or what I’m supposed to learn) from every challenge or event that comes into my life.

Let me know where you think you can slow down!

Terrie