Spend a day in slow motion. Plan ahead and
really dedicate a whole day to moving in slow
motion. When you're moving about your house,
going to work, eating, and so on, slow. . . down.
Whatever your speed, concentrate on cutting it in
half. Remember to breathe. Find your most
comfortable, slow rhythm and breathe slowly and fully
as you go about each task, happily remembering your
Higher Power when you do so. As you finish one
thing and take off for another, you'll probably forget
that you promised yourself to spend the day in slow
motion. Just remind yourself. Keep
reminding yourself and slowing down. Pat
yourself on the back for taking this time to relax and
discover your natural rhythms, and enjoy this new
sense of being.
Moving in slow motion is beginning to balance all the
times that you hurried and pushed and strained and
rushed. Some of us operate more or less in
permanent fight-or-flight mode. We struggle with
one after another urgency or deadline until everything
becomes a race to beat the clock. Even a simple
trip to a hair-styling appointment becomes a race and
stress. This is not living. This is not
promoting our health, well-being, and connection to
our Higher Power. We've let ourselves be
dominated by false urgency of circumstance, losing our
center and natural tempo.
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What is the spiritual virtue you wish to call forth
here? Finding your right speed and rhythm,
according to circumstance, and following that is
maintaining equipoise. Equipoise helps
you keep your head above water in the swirling
undertows of the world. Equipoise is a means to
creating your present mindfulness and not losing your
attention. Present mindfulness and attention are
key resources of spirituality that require constant
development, yet are all too easily forgotten.
Many of us are lost in a whirlwind of activity,
speeding along at full throttle, just skimming the
surface of life. At this breakneck speed, it is
easy to miss the signs and scenery along the way that
are always straining outside ourselves on some distant
destination. If we manage to keep going,
speeding along, as soon as we reach or even near our
destination (a worldly goal that promises to deliver
happiness to us), another far-off, distant point takes
its place and our attention. So, we take off
again with greater urgency, missing the signs and the
opportunities until we crash.
Then, a back injury, a broken relationship, a major
illness, or whatever challenge we're given will
command our attention so that we must adjust to
practice equipoise. Without critical adjusting
to achieve the much-needed equipoise, the situation
will grow worse and worse.
We are toddlers in this game of spirituality. A
Saint is able to move at a seemingly breakneck speed
yet maintain perfect equipoise, with their attention
wholly absorbed in God. For now, just be happy
to take slow, easy steps. Take one step at a
time in slow motion, maintaining your attention in
God. If you have a repetition or saying that
centers your attention, you'll find it much easier to
repeat it while you are moving in slow motion.
Concentrating on where you are now, dwelling in the
means, not the end, is the key to gathering your
attention and focusing it to engender
spirituality. When you are here now, in
equipoise, concentrating on and enjoying the means,
you are far better able to navigate the world.
The welcome surprise is that you'll reach your
destination more readily and in far better
shape. You may even find that you've been
tranquil and serene.
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more
on slowing down
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