The Blog of Awake My Sole: Tortoise & The Hare

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Anxious?

Or perhaps too busy to enjoy the meaningful things in life?

Are you waiting for life to slow down so you can enjoy it?

If so, you might need to make some changes, take some steps to help "slow you down," or change your lifestyle.

For runners, coaches don't often start with the advice, "Hey, you should run slower."

In life, consumer culture doesn't suggest, "Hey, you should slow your life down and not be so busy."

Why?

Because races & consumer culture are won by the ones who finish them the fastest and those who are perceived to be the most productive & busy.

What if races & productivity weren't measured by fastest times & how busy we are?

What if they were measured by how meaningful they are?

In distance running, a smart runner doesn't start with a sprint, but rather realizes they need to save energy & stamina for the whole race not just the beginning.

Advanced runners, start out slow and progressively gets faster, or keeps a steady constant pace the whole run.

Inexperienced novice runners, may start with a sprint, but quickly find themselves drained at the end of the race, or maybe they don't finish.

What if we looked at life, like a long-distance-run?

One where we aren't continually sprinting and being busy.

So we can actually finish the race well, and perhaps finish the race actually enjoying the race we ran.

Sometimes "slowing down" is what's best for us.

We all need to "slow down," perhaps even "stop" the pace we are traveling, and just experience it. Experience our surroundings, experience others on our path, and experience the joy that comes with the moment.

I am 143 days into the Awake My Sole journey, I follow a similar schedule each week, and some of the things that used to be new and exciting, have started to become routine, almost second nature.

Yesterday, in running 32.7 miles to the Bellevue community, I realized my need for "slowing down" my pace. One would think that traveling by foot is already a considerably slow pace, but I wanted to enjoy my surroundings, not worry about finishing, but enjoy the run, enjoy the flowers, enjoy the scenery, enjoy being intentional about the run.

For me, I am easily caught up with the routine, that I forget my joys of running, speaking, and discovery.

So yesterday, I ran slow. Parts of it I walked, and parts I stopped to enjoy what was around me.

May you "slow down" and enjoy the journey you are on.

May you find joy in seeking after things more meaningful than busyness.

May you be content in the moment you have been blessed with.

Here are some pics from yesterday's journey...