Modern society puts a premium on speed and efficiency. We figure we can accomplish more by doing two or three things at once. But we end up getting distracted.
And this distraction often comes at a price.
John Freeman, editor of Granta and author of the forthcoming book, The Tyranny of E-mail, writes, "We will die, that much is certain; and everyone we have ever loved will die, too, sometimes – heartbreakingly – before us… Busyness numbs the pain of this awareness, but it can never totally submerge it. Given that our days are limited, our hours precious, we have to decide what we want to do, what we want to say, what and who we care about, and how we want to allocate our time to these things within the limits that do not and cannot change. In short, we need to slow down."
He has a point.
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~ Doctors say slower breathing is one of the simplest ways to better health. Deep breathing lowers stress and reduces systolic blood pressure. It allows oxygen to get down to the smallest airways in our lungs, the alveoli, where the oxygen exchange is most efficient. Quick, shallow breathing causes our bodies to release less nitrous oxide, so our organs and tissues are less oxygenated.
~ Eat slower and you will eat less. There is a lag time between when the stretch receptors in your stomach signal it is time to stop eating and when your brain gets the message.
If you slow your intake, you won't just savor your meals more. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island discovered that people who eat slowly consume 70 less calories per meal. Multiply that by three meals a day and you'll drop 20 pounds over the next year.
~ Slowness won't hurt your love life. Mae West once remarked that anything worth doing is worth doing slowly… very slowly. Marriage counselor Lori Buckley of Pasadena agrees, "Often, the first thing to disappear from a marital relationship is the long, lingering, teasing kiss." See if your significant other doesn't agree.
~ Slowing down prevents accidents. It's impossible to calculate the number of motorists killed or injured each year because they were in a rush. Insurance companies have found that the overwhelming majority of job-site accidents are traceable to hurrying. You actually save time, do better work and prevent more injuries by slowing down.
~ Slowness is part of successful money management. Some folks realize late in life that they haven't saved enough for retirement. To make up for lost time, they often decide to roll the dice by trading risky derivatives (futures and options), penny stocks, or hot tips from friends and colleagues. Big mistake. When it comes to meeting long-term investment goals, the tortoise generally beats the hare.
~ A more deliberate pace enhances your quality of life. There's an old Chinese saying, "Man in hurry cannot walk with dignity." A constant flurry of activity doesn't present an attractive image. It creates stress and anxiety. It causes us to miss much of what is going on around us. As the philosopher Lin Yutang noted, the wise man is not hurried and the hurried man is not wise.
Deep down, most of us realize this. But it never hurts to be reminded – and perhaps take things down a notch.
More than 150 years ago, clergyman and Transcendentalist, William Henry Channing, described the slower, more relaxed life as his "Symphony":
"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich… to study hard, to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common – this is my symphony."
We all have obligations and deadlines, of course. But hurry and extreme future-mindedness impoverish the present.
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What we value most are love, friendship, solace, beauty and humor. These things are best communicated face to face in a calm, relaxed setting.
Slowing down enhances your sense of gratitude, improves your mental and physical health, allows you to gain control of your life, lets you appreciate beauty and enables you to reconnect with those around you.
So take a moment to enjoy what's right in front of you before it's gone. Even if it is just a meal....
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