Welcome to the Peaceful Parenting Challenge Blog Carnival: Week #4 – Slow Down
This post was written for inclusion in the 10 Week Peaceful Parenting Challenge Blog Carnival hosted by Prenatal to Parenting. This week our participants have written about Slowing Down. We hope you enjoy this week’s posts and consider joining us next week when we share about a week of Practicing Presence.
Have you ever tried slowing down? It is difficult to slow down because we have been conditioned by society to hurry up. Technology has us wanting instant gratification like no other generation has ever wanted it. It used to be great to have to wait for something, that is where the excitement in life came from... but nowadays you hardly ever have to wait for anything and if you do... it gets frustrating every minute you have to wait! Imagine... waiting... waiting.... waiting.... waiting... waiting... for this page to load, you would probably close it and open it again trying to get it to load quicker and if that didn't work you would likely just walk away and go do something else while you wait or just not even read it at all... even when you go to the coffee shop or the grocery store you have an expectation that the baristas or check out person is going to be quick... because don't they know you are in a rush to get home and rush some more? I have found visiting small towns over the years that have a significantly slower rate of production be it the grocery store or coffee shop or Walmart even! It wasn't until I visited these places that I realized we were all in a rush... and what for? Why are we rushing through life? What are we in such a rush for? To die? Seriously doesn't that just scare the shit out of you when you really think about it? I am in a hurry all the time... for nothing. Time has us locked into some kind of tornado of minutes and hours where we are bound by the tick tock of the clock.
Time to slow down, this week I consciously tried slowing down my day... I would get down on the floor with my baby and enjoy the world minute by painstaking minute, playing with him and seeing the world from his perspective. It was ridiculously difficult for me to sit and enjoy these small moments in time with him when there is so much to do around the house... but seriously... none of that matters, when he wants my attention, he is what matters. Twice this week I took my boys out for a car ride, we would just pack up and go for a ride to see what adventures would find us. On several occasions my boys, 15 years apart but very close in their hearts, were caught enjoying each other's company in David's room. All of these moments I will never ever get back, what if I had been rushing to do stuff that didn't matter and missed these moments? Life goes by so fast but maybe we can just slow it down a touch, as difficult as it may be, and just enjoy the little things. Guess what time did slow down in these moments... the days got a little bit longer. Maybe life will actually last longer if we can remember to sloooooow down... slow and steady does win afterall ;)
So, let's try to let go of the clock, let go of the hurrying, let go of the rush and see what happens!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
Small Things Often– Sarah from Prenatal to Parenting realizes the small moments are the ones that matter the most.
Stop, Amy Stop. Amy from The Connection We Share accepts her family’s invitation to slow down and finds that life will not be "better" when items get crossed off to-do lists. Life is perfect, right now.
Slow Down- Peaceful Parenting Challenge - Week 4 - Katrina from Kalem Photography calls her week a complete failure.
Slowing Down – Ricky from Daddy Blogger says slowing down doesn’t come naturally.
A Work in Progress – Verena from Memory Maker Events builds in some time for herself.
What really matters- Kathryn from Curiosity and the Kat realizes it is the little things that matter and help to put our life into perspective.
Time to Play- Michelle from My Peaceful Parenting feels like a bit of a cheater.
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