How to Reset to a Slower Pace
We are at camp and I just came back from walking the dog with my three year old in the rain. The three year old was holding an umbrella and attempting to walk the dog. As you can imagine it was a sloooooow process. Not only was holding the umbrella and the leash tricky, stopping to explore every large puddle after a heavy rainstorm made the walk feel long. That is when I realized it only felt long to me. To him, this was an amazing time.
I have been talking little ones on strolls for 16 years straight. Lately I have been feeling less patient. At first I thought because I am growing tired of it. But this morning I realized it is not that at all. It is our lives get more and more fast paced each day, making it harder and harder to slow down.
I find when I go camping with the family or on any vacation it takes me longer and longer to settle into vacation mode. For awhile, I thought that it was my work constantly pulling my mind in different directions. But while walking the dog made me realize it may be more switching from the ridiculously hectic day to day operations to slow mode is super difficult.
At home during the school year, our family goes on overdrive. School work, sports, play practices, housework, work duties, food preparation, this list goes on of what is managed on a daily basis. When I suddenly stop running, it is hard to reset my speed.
I can remember my father always saying when we were young, he liked to go camping for at least a week because it took him a few days to calm down and reset to a slower pace. I totally understand that feeling now. I do wonder whether the ability to reset to the slower pace is getting harder and harder….
So the next time we go camping, I am going to try to learn how to reset to a slower pace:
- shut off my cell phone for several hours upon arrival.
- let my worries go especially ones that I can not control.
- take a deep breath and live in the moment, explore, play games, read to the little ones, be present.
- enjoy the outdoors and beautiful scenery around me.
- be grateful that I get this time with my family and do not take it for granted.
