Slow & Steady

 Hello Natural Health Family! Spring is here and things are heating up. Many times we can get caught up in all what is going on throughout the year. This could be life events such as weddings, celebrations, reunions, get togethers, house projects, etc. Moreover, we can realize that we have gone through many events in the past and most if not all happen to work out well. Let’s talk about how patience can help us as we start to feel the need to hurry to get things done. 

Have you ever been in a hurry? I would say that the vast majority of us if not all of us can say that we have. Sometimes it is a good thing to be in a hurry. We might think of times when we are crossing the street and see a car coming. This is a good time to be in a hurry. Or perhaps when we are late to a special event that was planned years ago. How about a time when we arrive at an airport with only so much time to board the plane. These are all times when the need to be in a hurry is a good thing. It helps us to get to where we need to be at the right time. When this happens our Nervous System switches to more of a sympathetic state. That feeling of adrenaline and the rush of blood to our muscles is a reaction that we have inherited from many generations before. This can be used as an adaptive response in the face of immediate threat or danger. However, when this becomes a constant state, the once adaptive process becomes a maladaptive process. Instead of a quick temporary rush to help us in times of need, it then becomes a mild state of anxiousness which can also be called worry. When we become aware of this process we can be more on the offensive to slow down, breath and practice returning our body to a more calm state. This is better known as patience. 

As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. We have heard it many times before but then seem to lose that virtue as we start to feel the pressure and heat of needing to get things done. We tend to forget that many things happen in a manner which we can’t control. We sometimes allow fears of the “what could happens” to flood our mind. As we practice this once called virtue, we see that we can return our minds to the task at hand. That we can prevent the process of allowing the once adaptive process to become maladaptive. With our reason we can gather information we need to make the needed decision. We can use this reason to further plan ahead of time if needed. Of course there are times when things don’t go as planned. You may or may not call these mistakes. However, when we look back we can see that those times that we called failures or mistakes were our best lessons to learn to do things a different way. This way of seeing life helps us to know that even when things don’t go as planned, maybe it’s needed for something better for us to happen. So whatever it is, we can come back to the art of patience. 

Life will continue to have its ups and downs, rights and lefts, charges and slam dunks (for all you march madness fans). There may be times when it seems like it is too much to handle. Nevertheless, we can practice patience and realize that we have had that similar thinking in the past. So when you get finished reading take a moment, breath, and relax. Wherever you are may be exactly where you need to be. Thanks for reading.