Slow Down

Do you ever listen to yourself talking and wish you would just shut the hell up? I know you’ve thought that about someone who was talking to you. Have you ever been in a room full of people who are all trying to sound clever instead of listening to each other? I think that many of us substitute talking for thinking. What’s even worse is when we chatter on while simultaneously conversing over electronic devices.

We need to practice slowing down. Here are some exercises you can try to slow down and become more present in the moment:

Textspeak:

Try slowing a conversation down to the pace of text messaging: Speak one or two sentences, and each person waits 30 seconds to respond to the other person. It can make conversing much more intentional and focused.

Advice for Better Living

• Pet your dog or cat for a few more minutes than usual today.
• Volunteer to do community service.
• Take a child to experience something new.
• Try picturing an adult who drives you crazy as the sweet little child s/he was, whom you would love despite his or her flaws.
• If you have a teenage child who is driving you crazy, look at his or her face while s/he is sleeping.
• Invent a better way of writing “his or her,” and “she or he,” and tell me about it.
• Give away a possession you love to someone who would appreciate it.
• If you live a cluttered life, spend an hour today organizing the room you spend the most time in.
• Close your eyes and take three slow, deep breaths.

—

Click this word to find meaning within words: