By Angel Kane
The first week of 2016 is upon us. And unlike all the other years before, this year I’ve resolved to do something that is probably the craziest (yet sanest) things I’ve ever done.
This year, I’ve resolved to slow things down.
Just the thought seems absurd to me as I’m a list maker and never feel quite right unless I have a pen in hand and am checking things off hour by hour, one by one. Yet, somehow for the first time in a long time, this resolution makes me breathe that much easier.
I, like many of you, am a product of the me and now generation. Achieving, competing, doing, isn’t that what life’s about? And with each passing year the goals seem that much more unattainable, bigger and bolder than the year before. Not just one goal but several – all at the same time.
January is the month for resolutions and I was right there with you, working on my list, when not having a list, for the first time in years, seemed like the better resolution.
Sometimes the hamster just needs the wheel to stop turning. And this year, I resolve to do just that. Mind you, I intend the wheel to keep moving but I resolve for it to move slower and with purpose.
I’m not quite sure what slowing down looks like. For some, it’s completely getting off the grid and for others, it’s sipping coffee in the quiet solitude before the kids get up.
I’m hoping for somewhere right in the middle, shopping at Whole Foods once a month while vowing to not look at my phone before 8 a.m..
And then maybe, when I slow down….I’ll host dinners on my back porch again. Make fudge from scratch. Play tennis, take a yoga class, build a container garden. Catch a movie on a Sunday afternoon. Read a book – not a biography or self-help one, but a book that is pure fiction – that teaches me nothing at all.
And granted, it would appear that I’ve just compiled a new list – (some habits are hard to break!) – but the difference is this list is one that I can check off or not check off and either way life will be just fine.
That is my resolution for 2016.
It’s a journey that I hope will unclutter my thoughts and recharge my mind.
So circle back soo, and I’ll tell you how it’s going. And if you dare, I challenge you to slow down with me and then imagine all the things you might do… or not do.
“For once we stop rushing through life, we might all be amazed how much more life we have time for.”
Author unknown
