Slowing Down

As parents, it is just right to worry and  calculate the finances required to run a family. But this often leads to realization that the cost of raising a child, education, bills, etc. is substantial. Not to mention the need for planning our retirement.  So, the money we may be getting may not seem sufficient, especially recently that the inflation is so high and we can't help but chase after it. Yet in the process, we have observed that many forget their real reasons and spend much of their time and energy chasing after money, expecting it to bring them happiness, success, and for it to solve all their problems in life but end up burned out and suffer from mental anguish. 

Every family has unique circumstances but this is what we received as an answer to our prayers and queries: 

In The Book of Mormon, King Benjamin counseled, “See that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength” (Mosiah 4:27).

We live in a time when we are exceedingly anxious to achieve that "success" defined by the society and tend to compare our lives to others. At the end of the day, we realize that comparison is the thief of joy.

 

Our 17 years of family life has taught me and Anatolin that there is wisdom in preserving our health and strength in order to serve our family and more people. If we run faster than our supply of strength and energy, we will eventually be exhausted physically,  mentally or even spiritually. It is devastating to our mental and physical health, our relationships, and our productivity. But when we make slowing down a priority, we can focus on what's truly important in life.

Slow living is not about doing everything at a tortoise's pace. It is about doing everything at a better, more enjoyable and mindful pace which ends up being more satisfying and gratifying experience in the end. 

I read that while rushing adds stress and anxiety to our life, slowing down lowers stress and blood pressure, enhances decision making and other cognitive functions, and restores emotional equilibrium. 

John Taylor indicated that in life we cannot be shielded from certain things:

   “It is necessary that we should have a knowledge of ourselves … and comprehend our strength, our weakness, our ignorance and intelligence, our wisdom and our folly, that we may know how to appreciate true principles. … It is necessary that we should know our own weaknesses, and the weaknesses of our fellow-men; our own strength, as well as the strength of others … and not to overvalue our own wisdom or strength, nor depreciate it, nor that of others, but put our trust in the living God, and follow after him” (in Journal of Discourses, 1:148).

Our family strive and choose to put our trust in the Lord and desire to live our life after the manner He has shown us rather than after the manner of the world. It's not always easy. But we know we have His divine help. 

Excerpt from my journal, 12 September 2022