Slow down, you move too fast…
(This is a golden oldie from a few years back that I found languishing in my drafts folder; it struck home with me yet again when I re-read it, so I decided to go ahead and post it for you all to enjoy… -ss)
The past two weeks have been an exercise in recognizing and respecting my physical limits. You see, I was working for a gentleman of my acquaintance, tasked with prepping the floor and applying self-adhesive vinyl flooring. In the course of said prepping, I turned my back in a way that triggered a very old issue with my sacrum and…well, that’s all she wrote. I was almost unable to move without considerable pain by the next morning; by the time Saturday rolled around I hadn’t been able to leave the house for 2 1/2 days and the pain wasn’t being touched by anything I had on hand. I went to the doctor and choked up the fee, and was given the appropriate medication to help relax my spasming muscles and allow me to experience less pain. “Slow down, and take it easy”, she said as we left her office. 
It would be an understatement to say that I rarely do what I’m told. I pushed myself a few times, and paid the price. A week after the doctors visit, we moved into our new home, and during the last week and the move itself I kept trying to be an active part of the work. I felt guilty that I couldn’t do my fair share. I felt annoyed with myself, irritated that something as stupid as pain was keeping me still. So, of course, I kept getting up, kept trying to move things around and such. Sunday morning, I woke up with more pain than I had experienced in days.
My lesson was obvious -pushing myself past healthy boundaries and ignoring the signs that my body and mind give me leads to more pain than I actually needed to experience. And it amazes me how often I find myself doing just that – pushing myself to accept more, do more, BE more than I am without regard for my own well being. I over commit myself and berate myself when I can’t follow through as I’d like. I try to lift boxes that are too heavy for me to lift without injury. I emotionally take on pain from others without taking care of my own issues first. I procrastinate, then expect myself to pull off super-human levels of work in the final minutes, only to punish myself when it’s not done as well as I would like.
It takes years, decades even, for many of us to learn how to set, and honor, healthy boundaries for ourselves. And often, we catch ourselves believing that we should have “arrived” at a certain point in our journey, and that we are at fault if we aren’t there yet. But to listen to our bodies, our hearts, our intuition when they tell us “slow down” is likely one of the most valuable lessons that we can possibly use.
2 Responses to 'Slow down, you move too fast…'
Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Slow down, you move too fast…'.
This comes as a timely reminder for me – just before I add a part-time on-call job to my part-time internship, my many minor travel ambitions, and a driving class for the summer. Thank you!
Laura
7 Jun 10 at 5:54 pm
I need to remember this right now. I have been trying to spin too many plates, all of which seem to be so very important. I need to learn to prioritize better in order to save myself the pain of crashing and having to fix myself. Sometimes it’s okay to say no and take care of myself first. Thank you for this post.
Jinx
Jinx
17 Oct 10 at 11:26 am