It’s funny, I think generally as people we are much better at giving advice than taking it. The last few weeks I haven’t been able to take any of my own advice to help me prepare for the craziness of the academic year starting. It’s one of those instances where you know exactly what you need to do and yet you just can’t seem to do it. Or in my case, it was the added layer of just pushing through until I hopefully made it to the other side.

Just a few weeks ago, I remember sharing with colleagues that I wanted to exude a sense of calm this year. I was tired of telling people I was busy and just wanted to feel and give a calm presence. I didn’t want to be running around and feeling like I was rushing through my day. It was exhausting and I really just wanted to take a step back. Well, I can tell you that I quickly forgot about that sentiment and work and life got crazy and I became very overwhelmed. Even after the semester officially started, I thought I was in a better frame of mind to take on whatever the day threw at me. Again, I was wrong. I quickly became frustrated, and a little jaded, and every little thing began to annoy me.

A part of my job is advising student leaders on campus and as I’ve been meeting with a few of them, I’ve found myself giving similar feedback. I told them to slow down. Now, this was in reference to running a meeting and slowing down their presentations and allowing space for silence and responses from their team. But, tonight I realized that it is the exact advice I need to take myself. Yesterday, I answered the ice breaker question “what is a wish you have for yourself this year” with saying that I wanted to feel calm. Again, it wasn’t until tonight that I realized this was exactly what I had shared only a few weeks ago. So, why can’t I take my own advice and slow down? Allow space for silence and reprieve? Remember the joy I get from the work I do and the things I do outside of my job? Slowing down would allow me time to think. It would allow me time to respond in a better way. It would give me some reprieve from overwhelm, frustration, and annoyance; at least a little bit. I’m not exactly the ‘slow down’ type. I love to work quickly and move through life at a faster pace. But why am I in such a rush all the time? To grow up, to get married, to have kids, to buy a house, to travel, to move up in my career? I (hopefully) have my whole life ahead of me and there is no timeline to complete any of this. And if I’m constantly just moving onto the next thing, when do I ever get to enjoy the moment I’m in? So, slowing down will prove challenging. But I also think that learning to slow down a bit in life would also prove to be more beneficial than I even realize.

Here’s to moving slowly through life and enjoying every little thing I encounter as much as I’m able to.