Recovering from Burnout Series- Strategy 4: Slow Walking and Other Everyday Pauses

I have a tendency to rush through life. There are things to do and people to know! When I was a toddler, my mom already knew. She said, “No grass is going to grow under that kid’s feet!”  Slow walking is something I learned about from someone who had lived in South Africa, and I learned how to "slow walk" more in depth when I spent two months there.

I always walked like I was in a hurry. Slow walking is not like walking to get somewhere fast. Slow walking involves taking your time, enjoying the person you are walking with, and taking in the scenery.  Slow walking is relationally oriented rather than destination oriented.  You may or may not get to where you were headed, but you will enjoy the journey with the person or people you are with along the way! 

With my personality, I tend to be very present for an activity, until, suddenly, I’m finished. I move on from one activity to another very quickly. I think it gives my close friends and family a bit of whiplash! We will be having a deep discussion and then, in the next breath, I’m ready to move on to something else. The result of this? Sometimes there are hurt feelings. Other times the person I'm interacting with has told me they wonder if I was even listening. 

Another example is, when I leave a location, I tend to leave a trail. For instance, if I am visiting one of my sibling’s homes, I will almost always leave some of my things there. I’ve realized the main reason I do this is my mind has already moved on to my next activity. What I really need to do is slow down, assess what I brought to their home, and then make sure I have everything I came with before moving on to my next location.

When we are burnt out, moving fast is not even an option much of the time. Our energy level is not up to moving quickly through life. We need to take stock of where we are energy-wise, slow down, and take one activity at a time, or say no to one activity at a time!  Saying no has become a common part of my life, whereas pre-burnout, I said yes to almost everything.  

It is okay to slow down. There are areas of our life we don’t have much say in the speed of how life goes, but there are other areas where we can slow down, take stock, and purposely decide at what speed we will move forward in order to thrive instead of just surviving. 

Notes in the Margins:

1. What is an area of your life you have control over where you need to slow down? 

2. What is one practical “I will” in order to slow down in one of these areas? For example, for me, in the example of me leaving a location, I will take five to ten minutes before leaving to make sure I have everything I brought.