Slowing down | How to cultivate an intentional living mindset
A love note for when you need to slow down…
I’ve been in the midst of a busy season at work and my days are quite full. It’s a really beautiful thing but I’ve been moving through it a bit less mindfully.
This past weekend, my partner and I went out of town and we finally took a proper break after about two months of being quite full. And one thing I realized is that at the end of our days, which might be filled with various activities, we’re often in a rush to slow down. We’re in a rush to shower, eat and clean up so that we can finally stop.
I literally laughed at this.
So basically we’ve been rushing to slow down, which got me thinking…
Why don’t we just slow down while we’re doing the thing?
There’s so much power in intentional living but the speed of our current world can be so easy to get caught up in. There’s endless headlines and news updates. There’s endless stories, posts, tweets, reels and blogs online. There’s endless things we think we “should” be doing, studying, learning, accomplishing, being… it all truly never ends…
Until we put an end to it.Until we decide that’s not the life we want to be living or the way we want to move in the world.
Until we decide that we’re worthy of slowing down and that our life is worth paying attention to and really relishing.
I fancy myself pretty self-aware and one of the things I know for sure is that I need about a week off every three months. This would be in addition to other regular holidays. It’s almost like a mental and emotional cleanse.
I love my job more than anything. I love this work and this field and nothing makes me happier than seeing clients achieve all that they’ve set out to achieve.
But I also recognize that I need that space away from being forward facing. I need that time to focus inward, gifting my own love and attention wholly to myself. And from this place, everything I give to clients becomes so much more potent. So much more powerful.
But I’ll be honest, I know this AND I still get caught up in the madness.
I still allow myself to get caught up in the rush. I still struggle to truly make this very real need of mine a reality because clients! And admin! And the podcast! And obligations! And life!
There will always be a million things calling for your attention.
In the world today almost everything we engage with comes with an URGENT❗️PAY ATTENTION TO ME attached to it - even the things we think we engage with for fun. Everyone and everything is shouting “hey look at me - I’m important!” but nothing will ever be more important than you and the love you give yourself. That love fills your cup. It makes you who you are.
And the more that you are able to get quiet and listen to the whispers inside telling you where to go and what to do, the more potent your existence will be. You’ll be aligned and living as the truest version of you.
And that’s what this life is about after all isn’t it?
So what is your version of “one week off every three months?” What’s that one thing that you know you need but you are struggling to give yourself? How can you move a little closer to that today?
Leave a comment below and let me know. Or come join the conversation inside The Wild Free Well Space on Insight Timer!
