How to Slow Down Your Life--and Listen to the Stillness

WELCOME to this newly redesigned issue of PAUSE MORE. RUSH LESS. After introducing it in 2019, I thought I would migrate over to a new email marketing provider and add a fresh new layout with more photos, brighter colors, and greater design flexibility. The layout might continue to evolve to keep it fresh. I hope you like the design and the content.

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After a tough month, author Sarah Westfall once wrote, “I need to turn down the volume on my life and become reacquainted with the quiet.” She makes a good point. Sometimes the volume in our lives is overwhelming with family demands, work pressure, health concerns, and the pounding pace of life. That’s why seven years ago I created PAUSE MORE. RUSH LESS. To remind us that sometimes the easiest way to live a more meaningful life is by slowing the pace we live it.

I believe we were meant to live a “still life,” or at least build “still moments” into it. Pauses. Quiet times. Silence. Stillness. And stillness is defined as “the absence of movement or sound.” And while a life of stillness may not be practical in this day and age, we can give ourselves permission to slow down enough to, in Westfall’s words, “get reacquainted with the quiet.”

It’s important to note that “stillness” is not “idleness.” Idleness, by definition, is laziness or indolence. It’s coming to a full stop, wasting time or being unproductive. Stillness, however, is positive. It’s a posture where we rest, observe, listen, and reflect. A place that provides clarity, where we can hear ourselves think and make sense of life. Stillness is a day at the beach. It’s casting a line in the water—and being equally happy if you only catch a few rays but no fish. Sometimes a day on a boat is better than a day in the office because you’re reducing speed and rejuvenating yourself on a day created to be under the sun—not under the gun.

When we’re still, we can hear the ticking of the clock and invest in the one moment that matters most—the present moment. By managing our schedules, we can choreograph the pace and rhythm of our lives. And while we can’t control everything—we must ask, are we controlling what we can control?

In John Mark Comer’s book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, he suggests some sensible ways to slow your life down. While they are practical, they will sound radical because we’ve succumbed to the routine of living in a digital world. 

The average smartphone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times a day. In response, Comer suggests these ideas to cut down screen time. Turn your smartphone into a dumbphone. Remove email, disable your web browser, delete notifications, ditch new apps. Parent your phone: put it to bed before you—and make it sleep in. Consider limiting social media interaction. Minimize the role of TV in your life.

“Almost everything will work again when you unplug it

for a few minutes—including you.”     

                                                                                                              Anne Lamott

Comer goes on. Are you ready for this? He suggests driving the speed limit (not faster or slower, just the limit); get in the slow lane, feel the wheel, the road, and watch the scenery pass; walk slower, single task, take a day off to be alone, write in a journal, take longer vacations.

Impractical suggestions? Maybe. But think about it. There are several aspects of the pre-digital world we appreciated—and that allowed us to be focused on people face-to-face instead of through FaceTime. Life was not only slower, but sweeter, more relaxed, and less demanding. We had time to breathe.

The goal is literally to pause more and rush less. To develop a beach mentality, which is a simpler life. By reducing the speed limit in my life, I’ve noticed more in my own backyard: the graceful arc of a red-tailed hawk, the song of the Cardinal, the screech of a killdeer, the wobbly legs of a fawn, and the majesty of a doe. Slowing down calms, recalibrates, and refuels us. And rest makes us ready for more work. It all begins with a decision to control what we can control.

Comer writes, “All of my worst moments … are when I’m in a hurry.” He went on, “Love, joy and peace … are incompatible with hurry.”

I can’t think of a better reason to slow down—and listen to the stillness.

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SOMETHING TO CHEW ON: What are some ways you recommend slowing down your life to enjoy the most meaningful moments? Share what has worked for you.