for those who have been rushing aimlessly about and feel stuck - Letter #4
Why it's important to slow down & enjoy simple pleasures (also a bit about the effects of phone usage)
Dear Readers,
I’m dedicating this week’s letter to an issue I believe a lot of us share and that’s rushing. I don’t know why it is so common, perhaps because we believe we are running out of time… But in that case, why spend your valuable moments stressing over getting everything done right away. Wouldn’t it be much more fulfilling to spend your time doing your projects and activities mindfully & with a clear mind and positive mind?
I know from experience that hurrying around so often can grow to be a habit — one that isn’t easily broken. But it needs to be broken because it causes much stress and irritability and overall, discontentment with where you are in life. It is easy to lose gratitude for your current circumstances and instead find your mind fixated on the future.
It is wonderful to dream of the future — something I delight in doing, but it can go too far at times. When you begin putting the time ahead on a pedestal, and you believe nothing is good enough until it is what you dream of. That is too far…
It is key (I think) that we realize we are where we are for a reason. There is no need to rush the future into existence because God will give it to you when it’s the right time. God’s timing is perfect, but ours tends to ruin things. But don’t let that scare you because God is good and he fixes our mistakes, and he uses them to lead us to the truth.
My experience with rushing
I’ve gone through a cycle of thoughts and emotions these past couple of months and have come to the realization that I’ve been rushing since June, trying to bring every one of my goals into existence right away, and growing stressed when it was too hard. I hadn’t slowed down enough to notice the quiet and peaceful moments that were tucked away in all of the stillness that I was just barely missing.
These moments are easy to miss when reality is clouded by our thoughts of dismay, and we race through life like all of our desired qualities or goals need to come to us right away.
I’ve also found that in all of the moments that are meant to be spent unwinding we instead spend scrolling through noise. Often times, we scroll through social media whilst already overstimulated, then wonder why we’re stressed. I deleted Instagram after realizing I was using it every day to ignore my thoughts and feelings.
It slows the brains processing down, just as anything that takes your mind away from processing would.
I want to see the world around me with my own eyes — not always through a screen. scrolling is nice at times, and presents many new ideas and concepts, but how can I do anything with those when I am continuously scrolling and rarely taking the time to process all that I have seen.
Ever since deleting Instagram a few days ago, my mind has cleared abundantly. I find it so much easier to slow down now, because I now have so much more time, which otherwise would have been spent consuming. All of the time we nowadays spend on social media definitely plays a large role in rushing.
I’ve learned many things off of social media in all of the years I have had it, but I believe it is now time to pick up a book and ponder more in-depth knowledge rather than constantly consuming surface level. Scrolling isn’t worth all of my precious time.
It is important to do nothing and simply think. Staring at a wall for hours can have a much more positive affect on your focus and creativity than scrolling for all that time.
The effects of being on your phone:
There is this study I found that shows the negative effects that regularly being on your phone can have on your brain and how it can poorly alter your emotional and social regulation skills and circadian rhythm. (click here to read article).
By the way, if you read the article and found that you struggle with staying away from blue lights in the late evening, there are some gadgets you can use to help with that. You can get a red light for sleep which helps to create a cozy environment before bed (without harsh lighting), or some blue light blocking glasses to use at sunset. (Sunset is when natural red light comes out, and blue light starts to negatively affect your sleep cycle)
Activities I do to stay present & avoid rushing:
journaling
mindfulness exercise
staying off of phone majority of day
spending lots of time outside without phone
reading
drinking tea & thinking
I hope this was enlightening.
Until next time,
C. Selene