Slow Down!

Saturday was a frustrating day for me.  After continuous progress in physical healing, yesterday was full of twinges of discomfort.  I spent the majority of the day sitting quietly on the sofa trying to not further aggravate the situation.  It seems to have helped, as today I have had only a few little tweaks.  I guess I got a bit overconfident; Friday I was pretty active, even doing some moderate exercise.  As Nurse Marcie told me last night – listen to your body and it will tell you what you can do.  Message received…

I’m looking forward to getting back to work on Tuesday, even if it is just 1/2 days next week.  While the life of leisure does have its pluses, I need more mental stimulation than can be provided by SportsCenter.  I’m ready to get back into the swing of things at Coke.

Many people have written about the mental, physical and spiritual benefits of slowing down.  One of my favorite blogs is Zen Habits,  chock full of simple suggestions for reducing stress and increasing productivity.  Unfortunately, we all know how difficult it can be to make even simple changes to our daily routine.  The best intentions to improve ourselves are often overwhelmed by the pace of our lives.

For me, the best change that I’ve made over the last few years is to be unrelentingly selfish about my quiet time.  I try to start and end each day with at least 5-10 minutes of meditation/prayer, quiet time with God.  In the morning this helps set the mental tone for the day and at night it helps to release the activities of the day so that they don’t carry over into my sleep.  Next up will be to improve my physical health with a regular schedule of exercise instead of just when it fits in to my day.

Peace…