“Life is what happens to you
while you’re busy making other plans.”
-- John Lennon

Slowing down is not about being lazy, lacking motivation, or even lacking aspiration. Slowing down is about learning to live in the present moment without always looking forward or moving towards the future. It’s about looking at the world around you and really seeing it—not the blur that often results from living a fast-paced lifestyle. And it’s about truly engaging in life, not just letting it pass you by.

But obtaining or even keeping the “slow down” mentality isn’t always easy; especially since we live in a society that thrives on instant gratification, multi-tasking, the need for speed, and materialism (a.k.a. keeping up with the Joneses of the world).

We live in a society that truly believes our identities are made up of what we do for a living, how successful we are, or what material possessions we own. It’s no longer enough to simply say, “I am a stay-at-home mother on a quest to raise three healthy, happy children.” We must now say, “I am a work-at-home mother running a successful business while homeschooling my three children.” It’s no longer enough to have a comfortable house in which to live, we must have “the” house—the house of status.

So how do we slow down when the odds are stacked against us? How do we slow down and still succeed in both business and life?

Those are questions I’ve been trying to answer myself. It’s easy to say we want to do this or that, but with so many messages bombarding our phsychie on a daily basis, it isn’t always easy to hear our own thoughts, let alone act upon them. That’s why I think it’s important to find like-minded people who believe as we do. In building relationships with people of similar mindsets we can encourage and uplift each other as we strive to make changes in our lives that allow us to live the “slow down” mentality.

I once had a friend who believed the opposite as I and every time I tried to slow down and change the way I was living, I was met with opposition. That opposition caused me to feel guilty—even ashamed—with my decision to live the life I continually felt pulled towards. Eventually our relationship dissolved and I realized that it wasn’t because we didn’t care for one another, it was simply that our lives had pulled us in two totally different directions which often resulted in unnessary conflict.

Besides finding like-minded individuals to hang out with, a few simple changes can help reduce the amount of unwanted stress and unnecessary temptation in our lives. Here are some ways I’ve taken action over the years. I hope they help you, too!

• Stop junk mail.
  Junk mail not only wastes our natural resources, but causes us to desire things we really don’t need, often have no use for, and more than likely will not use.
  Visit DMA Choice, Direct Mail, Val-Pak Coupons, Valassis, and Catalog Choice
  
  
• End telemarketer calls.
  Not only are they annoying, but they waste our time. Visit DoNotCall.gov
  
  
• Reduce email.
  Get off listserves and newsletters you get no value from. Filter spam messages by sending them to your trash can before you ever see them. Opt out of spam advertisers by visiting DMAChoice.org
  
  
• End Credit Card Offers.
  No reason to keep tempting yourself with credit card offers that promise you the vacation, the big screen television, or the vehicle you've always coveted. Visit OptOutPrescreen.com
  
  
• Tell companies you do business with not to rent or share your information.
  When you sign up for a credit card, a magazine subscription, or even donate to charity, your information is sold to like-minded businesses which results in more junk mail, more email spam, and more unsolicited phone calls. Make sure you let companies you do business with know that this is unacceptable.
  
  
• Limit online and television time.
  Both the Internet and television have hundreds of advertisements designed to get you right back into the materialistic mindest. By cutting back on the time you spend surfing the web or watching television, you cut back on temptation and you free yourself for more important stuff like spending time with family and friends and hobbies. I know a couple who Tivos all their movies so that they can watch television on their time and without the commercial interuptions.
  
  
• Avoid window shopping as a form of entertainment.
  How many times have we said, “I’m bored. I think I’ll go window shopping or people watching” only to find ourselves coming home with bags of things we had no intention of buying? Window shopping is a huge American pastime but it does nothing to improve the quality of our lives.
  
  
• Cut back.
  We, Americans, are gluttonous people. I hate to admit it because it’s not flattering in the least, but it’s true. We work ourselves to death so that we can afford things that we don’t necessarily need and can often do without. Working overtime and missing out on life simply to afford the materialistic lifestyle is crazy, as is working overtime to pay for credit card bills with charges that are over two years old.
  
  
• Declutter.
  Take the time to go through your home and weed out anything you no longer use, fit into, or feel a connection to. Then hold a garage sale, open up an eBay account, or visit a “we buy used” shop. What you can’t sell donate to a charity you believe in. Not only will your life feel instantly lighter, but you’ll feel fantastic afterwards.
  
  I don’t know about you, but I personally hate dusting and the more items I own, the more things I have to dust. But more importantly, the more I declutter our home, the more I realize we’ve wasted x amount of our lives working for x amount of items only to discover that they weren’t all they were cracked up to be.
  
  
• Re-connect.
  Make a true connection with Mother Earth, with people, with yourself, with God. Take time to truly live in the presence by giving back to the earth through nature conservacy measures or planting a garden; by spending time with people through physical activities, social gatherings, or games; by rediscovering who you are through creative and intellictual measures, or by finding a spiritual connection.
  
  
• Delegate.
  Delegation is probably the most difficult task to achieve because it means relying on someone else to help you get the job down. It means giving children specific chores, relying on your partner to follow-through, bartering services with someone else, paying someone to complete the task, or simply asking for help from a friend. It’s literally about giving up control and letting someone else handle the reigns so you can move onto other things and that’s not always easy to do. But oh, the rewards are so worth it!