Slow down...

On this time we’ve got left what can one do?

It’s and blunt question, but sometimes a necessary one to wake us up.

Life is short.

For many of us, the Ego steps in. “I’ve done this, and that, and so much”, but we’re lying to ourselves when we just list the things we’ve done, aren’t we? Do you feel satisfied with that answer… could it be that instead of thinking about what we’ve done, it would be more honest and valuable to state what we’ve learned?

Plato asked, "…why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?”

How many of us feel that we are chasing a dream, a life goal that will give meaning to who we are? And despite the amount of “achievements”, that unrestful search can only provide some small temporary fixes.

We are what we do and say, we are what we choose, in sum, we are what we believe.

If you believe yourself to be broken, you will be broken.

If you believe you don’t have the courage, you will never have the courage.

What we believe we are…

So tell yourself, what do you believe in?

Yes we are conditioned by our experiences and lessons through life. At first its school (our parents words will resonate all through our life…), but then it’s up to us, to believe or not in what friends, neighbours, employers, books and travel agents say to us. We choose what we believe in.

But this concept of choice its far from being simple, isn’t it? When faced with a not so known crossroad, any certainty we thought we had can transform itself into the shape of a big question mark, and block our view.

Yeap, we were sure that we had the right path but then maybe we should think again, other people have chosen differently in the exact same situation, testimonies of the same choice have revealed to be unproductive, wrong even… yes, we were sure, but not anymore because we’ve lost the direction of where we wanted to go, we’ve lost the purpose of our travel… It’s not about which roads we choose to take, but the destination, right?

How many times do we need to remind ourselves of that?

It’s ok to be a bit lost, as long as you don’t give up of where you intended to go. Take different turns, explore, but don’t loose sight of that image that made/makes your heart smile.

So what do you believe with all your heart?

It’s a hard one. You can even argue that a lifetime is not enough to come up with an answer for this one, but if we just stopped for a bit and felt the sweet loving vibes we can feel when we think of our dreams and hopes, we could maybe get closer to understanding what we truly believe.

But we choose to be busy. We choose to be in a rush.

“Busy is a decision… You don’t find the time to do things — you make the time to do things.”

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Jonathan Fields

Think about what it means to be busy, in such a delicate and temporary life.

Really? We have this amazing opportunity of being alive and we rush over life?

Do you choose rush? Do you believe in being busy?

I know why I’m afraid of stopping and look into my beliefs and life choices. Because I fear that I might not recognise myself in the clothes I’m wearing or the house I call home, but I also know that unless I decide to stop and ask for guidance I will always be believing in my fears and not in my heart.

Let’s not be afraid of admitting we took a wrong turn, instead, use that as a lesson learnt and useful in the future.

And instead of keeping ourselves busy, lets take the time to answer our doubts and fears. Let’s use our valuable time to answer these valuable questions, even greater ones like, are you only just body and mind?

More and more it’s repeated through out podcasts and articles that happiness, as we envision, is possible through a more focused state of mind. Not focused on our mind chatter and constant rumination, but focused on what we’re doing, be it at work or just when we’re telling that sweet bed time story to our kids. That “be here”, “be present” stuff. And you know how we can be focused and present? By slowing down…

Slowing down on our rush to do, go, buy, have, get, show. By stopping being busy and instead, being, enjoying, feeling.

“Act the way you'd like to be and soon you'll be the way you act”

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Leonard Cohen