”Less mindless dwelling, more mindful attention.”

Slow living is about creating time, space and energy for the things that matter most to us in life. It’s about taking the time to do things properly, and thereby enjoy them more. Allowing ourselves to be fully present.

I think it was Socrates who said:

”The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”

There are of course many habits one can incorporate in order to embrace a slower kind of living. Here are just three of my favorites at the moment. I hope you’ll find enjoyment in them as well.

Stop chasing, start appreciating

Usually the more we want, or chase something, the more that thing keeps on moving further and further away from us. When we find ourselves being too attached to a certain outcome we’re blocking other things from flowing to us. If we operate from an ”I want” mindset it usually entails that we’re lacking something.

For example, instead of chasing love – start appreciating the love you already have in your life, whether it’s the love from a pet, from a friend or a parent. Start appreciating the beauty of a sunset, a leaf, a well written book or a calm, restful night in. Love is to be found everywhere, not only between two human beings.

The same goes with your job. Are you chasing a certain career? Start appreciating everything you’ve done thus far. Everything that has brought you to this particular moment. You might not know exactly where you are going and how you’ll get there, but the more you’re actually enjoying life, and not rushing through life, you’ll notice how much more life you have time for.

Where your attention goes, energy flows

In a way the mind believes it has to think all the time (or worry, dwell, reflect, analyse etcetera), otherwise it will collapse or cease to exist. As long as we think about things, we’re in control, or so we believe. There’s no way to control the future, or how other people behave and what kind of situations that are brought to us. The things we do have control over are the things happening within ourselves – How we choose to react to the people and circumstances in our lives, and where we choose to direct our focus and attention.

Of course we can contribute to society with our knowledge and expertise, we’re not powerless in that sense. However, we can’t control the actions of others, other people’s motives or predictions about the future.

You’re in control of your own attitude, your own actions, and in which mindset you wish to spend your day to day life. Where your attention goes, energy flows.

By being true to your innermost self, you slowly start to redirect the focus onto the things that matter most to you in life. All these desires you have, all these things you crave, whether it’s love, prosperity, connection, success, adventure, know that they all stem from within. Look at them as a seed, waiting to be nourished and watered daily, by you.

Listen to yourself

”I would like to spend the rest of my days in a place so silent – and working at a pace so slow – that I would be able to hear myself living.”

– Elizabeth Gilbert

The past few weeks I’ve allowed myself to meditate more, to just sit with myself, in silence. I’ve been having the urge to write down my thoughts on a day to day basis – making my headspace not only clearer, but creating space for anything new to enter.

In my last blog post I wrote about the courage to trust yourself, and how that can assist you in cultivating more courage, self-worth and compassion.

It’s very difficult to hear oneself when the mind is constantly caught up in the outside world. If we never take the time to just sit with ourselves, we won’t hear the silent, important whispers from the soul.

I encourage you to stop for a while. You see, the soul doesn’t usually scream out its desires; usually it’s a soft melody, unperceivable to the five senses, nevertheless, something never to be ignored. 

❤