The Art of Slow Living
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
~Lao Tzu
In January of 2011, I lost the love of my life, my mom. She had been battling stage four breast cancer for almost fourteen years and I was by her side every step of the way. I also was living in the middle of a fast pasted city, running my family’s business (restaurants & bars), going out 4-5 nights a week, working out too much, drinking way too much caffeine and battling a debilitating sleeping disorder. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was heading for a breakdown. That breakdown came when my mom passed away.
Everything stopped when she died. I stopped working. I stopped going out. I stopped working out. And I stopped wanting to live.
After years of running on all cylinders, I finally ran out of gas. My nervous system was toast and my mind had told me to take a hike. What was still intact was my soul. Somewhere deep down inside, my spirit was desperate for help. One afternoon that I will never forget, I found myself on the shower floor, the water hitting my back as I got on my hands and knees and begged the universe to help me. I cried out, “God, please either help me live or help me die.” It was really that simple.
Within weeks I found myself at a Transcendental Meditation center in Chicago learning how to meditate. And in one meditation I went from suicidal, to a state of ecstasy that I have never before experienced.
After meditating for twenty minutes, I opened my eyes and everything, and I mean EVERYTHING was different. Colors, sounds, my mind, it had all changed. My senses were heightened and my vision was clear. I turned to my teacher and without skipping a beat I blurted out, “everything I thought I knew, was wrong.”
At the top of my list, the way I had been living my life. Always being on the go was killing me. Constantly pushing myself to succeed, to be the life of the party and to look perfect, had taken a major toll on me. But it was a new day. I had seen the light and after almost taking my life, I was determined to do things differently. In fact, my plan was to do the opposite of what most people were doing. I was going to embrace the art of slow living.
Step one, recognize my purpose in life and put that “knowing” at the top of my to-do list. The idea of writing a book had taken center stage in my life and now I was going to move towards my inner prompts.
Step two, simplify my life. I sold most of my belongings, moved out of the city and found a small, but beautiful home in the country. My goal was to move to a town where I didn’t know anyone, spend time in nature and write my first book. What I received from making these changes was far beyond what I could have imagined.
The outcome was better than I could have imagined.
Within weeks of moving out into the country, I began to notice a state of peace that I had never experienced before. I was taking my time making a fresh pot of coffee in the morning. I spend less time on my devices. Taking walks at sunrise and sunset became my new norm. I would do things like sitting outside at night and just staring at the stars for hours. Spend a couple of hours int the afternoon reading a great book. Making a homemade dinner for new friends I started making. Time had taken on a new meaning. I didn’t feel rushed, so I never hurried. I was in the flow.
The most interesting part of this whole adventure was that I began to notice that I was getting twice the amount of work done, in half the amount of time. I wrote a book, started a company and made a ton of new friends, all while staying in the flow. I was mastering the art of slow living and it was bringing all of my dreams to my doorstep. Magical living is what I called it. Taking care of your nervous system and feeding your mind what it really wants, good food, a healthy dose of nature and silence is a recipe for a powerful life. It’s the opposite of how we have all been told to live and it may be the key to our happiness.
