We are moving too fast.

Our brains are working over time.  Thinking is the biggest consumer of energy.

And sadly most of our thinking is scattered thinking instead of concentrated thinking.  That is, we are jumping from one thought to the next.

I recently spent 3 days camping with an amazing guy – Terry Hinze who runs a company called Nature Therapies

It changed my life, and I learnt a great deal about myself.

Here are 5 lessons that I took away:-

1. We Move Too Fast

Terry used the analogy of a dolphin on a wave.  He explained how a dolphin can sit on a wave and move forward at a rapid pace, and at the same time move left or right and play.  In other words – it’s not trying very hard.   He helped me realise that I was swimming about 2 metres in front of the wave.  I was exerting a lot of energy and not allowing the power of nature to carry me.

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2. We Compare Ourselves To Others

I didn’t think that I did, but I do.  In nature you really notice that there is no ego.  A small tree doesn’t stress itself because it’s not a big tree or an exotic plant.  It is what it is and it doesn’t try and be something it’s not.

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3. So many people spend too much time in the future

Nature helped me realise that the only thing that matters is now.  When you can accept life for what it is, rather than how you think it should be then worries begin to evaporate.

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4. I often make decisions with my head over my heart

When you spend time in nature, you really see what is important and what isn’t.  By slowing WAY down, you become very clear on what your true values are, and you start to see that you put other, superficial things in front of these, which end up creating anxiety and stress (which you can’t see – until you slow down)

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5. We chase goals

In nature you realise that there is no goal setting.  There is no destination.  There is no ‘when I achieve “this”, my life will begin’.  It just is.  Everything goes with the flow.  There is no struggle and therefore no stress.  This was a HUGE opener for me.

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So Slow Down

P.S  When you slow down you speed up.

P.P.S  Have a read of this poem.

Poem – Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids ?On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain ?Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight? ?Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You’d better slow down. ?Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. ?The music won’t last.

”Do you run through each day on the fly?”
When you ask “How are you?” ?Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done ?Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores ?Running through your head?
You’d better slow down. ?Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. ?The music won’t last.

Ever told your child, ?We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, ?Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, ?Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time ?To call and say “Hi”?
You’d better slow down. ?Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. ?The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere ?You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day, ?It is like an unopened gift….Thrown away.
Life is not a race. ?Do take it slower
Hear the music ?Before the song is over.