Resist Reacting

This is the third post in the Go Slow Series.

Concept 3 - Resist reacting to everything that is going on around you

The world that we exist in is a busy, intense and a sometimes exhausting place that seems to demand so much from us, but that is only true when we allow it to invade our minds and consume all of our resources. The amount of energy we have on any given day is finite, so we need to make decisions about where we will spend that power.

So how would this concept play out in our day-to-day?

Some examples:
Email/IM/Texts - We don’t have to be on call to every manner of communication. Learn to turn it off for periods of the day, so you can take back that time for yourself. Set a schedule for reviewing these communications that puts you back into control of your thoughts and your time.

Phone calls - Don’t grab every phone call. While you are working on a task, turn off the phone and get back to it later. If it is important they will leave a message and if not, you just gave yourself some time back to use as you see fit.

Conversation on Demand - If you are working on a task or relaxing and someone suddenly wants to talk to you now, you have every right to tell them you are busy and will get back to them. They do not have a right to your time, but you do have the right to manage it.

Saying no to people may not feel ‘friendly’, but it is a reasonable way to conduct ourselves and it allows us to claim more control over our lives. We should always try to be respectful, but firm about how our time will be spent. We need to live our lives for ourselves and we can do this while caring for our friends, family and community. These kinds of changes may be difficult to implement at first, but they get easier as we continue to exercise them. Managing our own time is another tool for reaching positive control and reducing the triggers that bring us illness and pain.