OVERWHELMED AND OVERWORKED? A GUIDE TO SLOWING DOWN

Life seems to move at a rapid pace for most of us. This often leaves us feeling over scheduled, overstimulated and overwhelmed. Sometimes I long for the weekends of my childhood. The stores closed at 12 pm on Saturday and Sunday was pretty much exclusively for going to church, mowing your lawn, Sunday drives, incinerating your garden clippings and of course a Sunday roast. 

I am probably romanticizing at least some of this e.g. the smell of freshly cut grass, somewhat masked by thick bellowing smoke, being forced into the car in order to go to Sunday School and oh and those Sunday drives that seemed like they were never going to end. However, life did seem a little simpler. There seemed to be a predictability about the week. No one asked what you did over the weekend; they just assumed you were mowing lawns, lighting fires and driving around endlessly looking at other peoples gardens. 

However, now there seems to be a sense of urgency in everything we do. Each weekend is packed with social activities, shopping and housework. Usually by the end of my weekend, I am exhausted and I’m looking forward to the new week. No wonder we feel overwhelmed and no wonder we feel challenged by the idea of slowing down. I personally feel as I will miss out on something if I’m not utilizing every second, doing activities that are suppose to be making me happy. I now realize that what I am missing out on is the rhythm of life. I am missing out on the simple pleasures of sitting with a cup of tea, or watching my son draw a picture or listen to music (really listen). Being in the moment, requires us momentarily to stop, breath, observe and absorb. Our hurried and harried lives leave people feeling that this isn’t a choice. However, that is where we are wrong. 

Tips of slowing the pace.

Say no - Saying no to others often means saying yes to yourself.

Stop and notice the smell of your freshly brewed cup of coffee

Breath - deep breathing can connect us to our surroundings and lower our stress levels.

Try having a family day once a week that doesn’t involve spending money.

Meditate

Enjoy simple pleasures over the weekend (time off) like reading, going to the beach or feeding some ducks.

Reconnect with loved ones.

Have a least one shop free day per week.

Don’t use your car for one day per week.

Make something creative.

Cook something with love and share it with those that you love.

Laugh with friends.

Garden, sing, fly a kite, dance or whatever makes your soul come alive.

Go hiking/walking.

LESS IS MORE IN THE LAND OF EXCESS

My life has changed drastically since I last blogged. Due to my husbands work I have moved to Dubai and swapped living in a three level home for living in a two bedroom apartment. This involved selling, donating, giving away and throwing away around 80% of what we owned. I have to say that it felt incredibly liberating! I now have the minimalist life that I have been working towards .....or do I? You see minimalism and Dubai in the same sentence is probably an oxymoron. Better known as the Las Vegas of the Middle East, in this city everything that glitters is actually gold! Since arriving here, I have picked up a small magazine reading addiction. Wanting to embrace my new city I am always keen to see how others live here and lets just say there are a LOT of people in a slightly different snack bracket to me; I know this because the Porsche Panamera is considered a family car.

I see all the expat women here with the typical key status items that suggest someone has some money (irrespective of whether they do or not) e.g. Louis Vuitton handbag, Tiffany jewelry, Jimmy Choo shoes , Gucci sunglasses and a honking big 4 x 4 for the school run. I am sure most of them are probably normal income families trying to make a few extra dollars in Dubai. This just happens to be the Dubai uniform, or as one magazine article explained, women in Dubai are tribes distinguished by the brand of handbag they carry. As a rational, mature adult women, there is a small part of me that sometimes feels I want to buy into that. I want to be like all the other girls, and I want to fit in (my 15 year old self talking). Why can’t I buy pretty shoes like that? Nobody is going to like me if I look frumpy!

I must admit that it seems ridiculous that I would want to aspire to be like those around me. I have come to a place in my life where I am comfortable with myself and not overburden by the pressure to conform, to consume or be a certain way for others but apparently my inner 15 year old self didn’t get the memo and I think her and i need to talk. I would like to think that people judge me based on what I think and do rather than what label I am wearing. Or more im portantly, measure my own value by what I think and do and not how I look. So I shall try and go forth and not allow my sense of self to be unhinged by pretty shoes or overpriced clothes. I will remind myself of what is important to me and what I truely value!








“Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men and towards objective things.”






—Albert Einstein