Overwhelmed?  Too much to do?  It’s time to slow down and rest.  Sound counter intuitive?  I agree.  But think about it, ever have a power nap that zapped you with the energy that enabled you to burst through your list of “to do’s” faster than an egg fries on hot sizzling concrete?  Amazingly, fighting through the dreariness of sleepiness can be a real battle and waste tremendous energy.   

Fight sleepiness and end up more exhausted slogging through some work, or seize a power nap for five or ten minutes and be prepared to enthusiastically tackle the daunting list down to size.  I was once told that the way us “Westerners” approach stress is so strange. We get overcome with so much to do and know that the day before us requires more than we are able to accomplish.  We “Westerners” will look at everything that we need to do and get to work cracking the whip.  We need to get a move on it even though we know that it is impossible.  The harder we work the more stressed we become.  More problems seem to grow as though we are trying to clean a lint brush by brushing the back of a cat. In other cultures when they have more to do than they can simply accomplish they look at this as a time to go into deep meditation. 

 This might seem counter intuitive—slowing down, apparently doing nothing as a strategy to accomplish tasks.  The reason for this is that when we are in a good relaxed state it becomes easier to find the information or the fastest path to completion.  At the risk of sounding Californian, this puts us in a state of flow and into abundance. If you doubt the validity of this then just put the slow down to speed up concept into action next time you feel stalled by a mountain of tasks and be prepared to see yourself propelled forward.  There is a difference between being idle and regenerating. 

Posted in: Self Improvement at 10:42 am