Recently I bought a new pair of flip-flops…I know, it’s near the end of summer, but my old nasty sandals were at the end of their road.

Now I’ve always worn actual sandals in the past; scandals that were actually strapped on at bridge of my foot and at the back of my heel.  It makes them easy to walk around in, which is good because those who know me know that I tend to walk rather quickly.

So I change into my first-ever pair of flip-flops (really!) as soon as I leave the store I bought them in, and immediately I notice that I can’t walk around in them with my normal quick walk; I simply have to slow down.  If I don’t, the flips go flying off my feet.  After a few frustrating minutes, I finally get the hang of it and the new footwear stays on my feet just fine.  Honestly, it felt like I actually had to learn to walk again.

This got me thinking about life a little bit and how we sometimes forget how to slow down.  I will be the first to say that I have a very prominent GIT-R-DONE attitude at times, and I tend to blow through job after job without stopping to catch my breath or enjoy “simple life stuff.”

“Simple life stuff”…usually that’s anything that you don’t usually do, but once you take the time to do it, you’re glad that you did:

• Walking without any particular destination.
• Sitting on the porch and enjoying the breeze.
• Having a conversation and joking around with your parents or other family.
• Going out on the boat and fishing.
• Teaching someone else how to fish properly.
• Firing up the grill and cooking.
• Going driving with someone with no other agenda than to just talk.

These (and many other things) are all things that I’ve failed to do well.  I have a tendency to get too fast for my own good.  Once that happens, I have trouble shutting my brain off and not thinking about stuff that involves work.  Having certain mindsets doesn’t help either.

• “No” and “Not yet” are not valid answers.
• Unless it’s working exactly like it’s supposed to, it’s just not working.
• I’m not stopping until this is done and done right.

These are thoughts that I struggle with constantly because I’m one of those people that can’t accept failure, and this makes me forget “how to walk” sometimes.  I want to do better at walking, so that when the opportunity comes to slow down, then I can because I remember how do to it.

I’m just getting ready to enter into a 2-week-long time of rest.  This has been on the edge of my thoughts for 2 months now, and I’m so excited that it’s finally here.  For 2 weeks I’m going to have nothing to do but remember how to slow down and ”just walk.”  I’ll have my new flip-flops on, too; in fact the only time I’m not going to be wearing flip-flops is when I’m on my motorcycle.

I hope this wasn’t too confusing of a post… it’s just been on my mind for a couple days now and I wanted to get it out there.  Being able to take things slow is important, and nowadays in our society it’s becoming more of a lost art. 

May you never forget how to slow down from a run and “just walk” when you need to.