Once when reading an interview with the eternally fantastic Bonnie Raitt, I stumbled upon this quote.
On her two-year hiatus:
Who would have thought that rest was a sacred act? A therapist I love said, “Only go as fast as the slowest part of you can go.”
It’s a lesson I have to learn over and over again. A lesson I learned again this week when struck with the stomach virus from hell.
We can have a to do list a mile long and a dirty house and twenty piles of laundry but if our body says no, our body says no. It’s unfortunate that sometimes I only slow down when forced to by my intestinal track because the truth of that quote goes far beyond the limits of our physical selves.
Recently, I was reading the equally fantastic Tara Sophia Mohr and she was discussing a recent article she’d stumbled upon entitled “12 Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast.”
What was my first thought?
“Oh, I better click on that and start doing all those things!!!”
Ummm, no. Luckily, I decided to finish reading Tara’s post first and I am so glad I did.
From Tara:
In a world, that tells us successful people DO, successful people ACHIEVE, successful people GO I am all to susceptible to believing that merely being or enjoying or breathing isn’t all that important.
But it is important. Sometimes it's important to rest. Sometimes it's important to watch A LOT of Downton Abbey (not that I've ever done that) and it's important to not then beat ourselves up for all the time we're "wasting."
I think it’s especially important as parents.
For as parents, we are not only limited by the slowest parts of ourselves but by the slowest little members of our families. If you’ve ever tried to force a two-year-old to hurry up, you know the truth of that statement.
Children will not be rushed. Children aren’t particularly great at doing, but they are stinking geniuses at being. Being in the moment. Being happy. Being with you.
Only go fast as the slowest part of you can go - be it your body, your spirit, or your toddler.
Don't wait for the stomach virus, people. Trust me.
