Slow down therapy

**Julia Kimber** · 01-22-2005, 04:21 AM

1. Slow down; God is still in heaven. You are not responsible for
doing it all yourself, right now.

2. Remember a happy, peaceful time in your past. Rest there. Each
moment has richness that takes a lifetime to savor.

3. Set your own pace. When someone is pushing you, it's OK to tell
them they're pushing.

4. Take nothing for granted: watch water flow, the corn grow, the
leaves blow, your neighbor mow.

5. Taste your food. God gives it to delight as well as to nourish.

6. Notice the sun and the moon as they rise and set. They are
remarkable for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed.

7. Quit planning how you're going to use what you know, learn, or
possess. God's gifts just are; be grateful and their purpose
will be clear.

8. When you talk with someone, don't think about what you'll say
next. Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.

9. Talk and play with children. It will bring out the unhurried
little person inside you.

10. Create a place in your home...at your work...in your
heart...where you can go for quiet and recollection.
You deserve it.

11. Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive. Rest isn't
luxury; it's a necessity.

12. Listen to the wind blow. It carries a message of yesterday and
tomorrow-and now. NOW counts.

13. Rest on your laurels. They bring comfort whatever their size,
age, or condition.

14. Talk slower. Talk less. Don't talk. Communication isn't
measured by words.

15. Give yourself permission to be late sometimes. Life is for
living, not scheduling.

16. Listen to the song of a bird; the complete song. Music and
nature are gifts, but only if you are willing to receive them.

17. Take time just to think. Action is good and necessary, but it's
fruitful only if we muse, ponder, and mull.

18. Make time for play-the things you like to do. Whatever your age,
your inner child needs re-creation.

19. Watch and listen to the night sky. It speaks.

20. Listen to the words you speak, especially in prayer.

21. Learn to stand back and let others take their turn as
leaders.There will always be new opportunities for you to
step out in front again.

22. Divide big jobs into little jobs. If God took six days to create
the universe, can you hope to do any better?

23. When you find yourself rushing and anxious, stop. Ask yourself
"WHY?" you are rushing and anxious. The reasons may improve your
self-understanding.

24. Take time to read the Bible. Thoughtful reading is enriching
reading.

25. Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed
and efficiency. The best musician is one who plays with
_expression and meaning, not the one who finishes first.

26. Take a day off alone; make a retreat. You can learn from monks
and hermits without becoming one.

27. Pet a furry friend. You will give and get the gift of now.

28. Work with your hands. It frees the mind.

29. Take time to wonder. Without wonder, life is merely existence.

30. Sit in the dark. It will teach you to see and hear, taste and
smell.

31. Once in a while, turn down the lights, the volume, the throttle,
the invitations. Less really can be more.

32. Let go. Nothing is usually the hardest thing to do - but often
it is the best.

33. Take a walk-but don't go anywhere. If you walk just to get
somewhere, you sacrifice the walking.

34. Count your friends. If you have one, you are lucky. If you have
more, you are blessed. Bless them in return.

35. Count your blessings - one at a time and slowly.