Every Once in a While, it is Okay to Slow Down a Little...

From a young age, we are told that we must not stop working hard or running in the race of life with the world because if we stop and become stagnant, we will be crushed in this stampede. I agree with this- it is important to not become stagnant and to keep moving forward. It is important that we strive for improvement and excellence in whatever area we wish to become good in or pursue and for that, we must keep working hard. However, a little time back, I felt that this need to keep moving forward and advance to a new and better level, and to keep growing better to achieve a bigger goal after some period of time was weighing me down and then I observed that this pressure was dragging down many others around me and was suffocating them from within.

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I am a big believer in moving on and working constantly to fulfill your goals and to live a good life, but I also believe that every once in a while, it is perfectly alright to slow down a little and not move just as much. Sometimes, you feel extremely stressed and exhausted from working hard and need a break, but if you keep abiding by the rule of 'constantly moving on', you are likely to push yourself forward and then become extremely exhausted and drained in the process. I know this because I have been through this. Over the past 6 months, I have worked hard strenuously day in and day out and I used to sacrifice my sleep in the process. Then I realized that I was actually harming my body and it was okay if I did not achieve my goal as planned or if I slowed down a bit and took more time to fulfill my goal because achieving something does not have to make me lose my sleep and feel like a zombie. So I started to slow down a bit and take better care of myself.

Not only that, but I also feel that it is not everyone's wish and genuine desire to be the best at everything or to achieve high excellence in something. A farmer may just be happy with cultivating a few crops each year and may not want to expand his farm. That does not mean he does not support progression and does not know how to live a good life. It means that for him, progress is about enjoying what he has and if that satisfies him, it is perfectly fine.

About 3 months back, my husband showed me a fantastic speech by Arnold Schwarzenegger that talked about the importance of setting big goals for yourself and then giving in your all to achieve them. It was very moving and inspirational and I loved it. My husband then said, 'Sharoon, you do not strive to be the best at something, why is that? You know you could be amazing because you have such great potential, but you do not strive to be the best. If you want to be a motvitational speaker and writer, you should strive to be the best at it. You just don't have that drive and that's why you'll always be mediocre.'

Those words really hit me and I was like 'Yeah, I do not strive to be the best at something and that's not good.' It did make me feel bad that maybe I wasn't working as hard as I should and made me set and pursue a goal that I didn't really feel about. While doing that, I heard a constant voice from within that encouraged me to revisit that goal and analyze it in an unbiased manner to see if it was really my goal. It wasn't my inner critic because that voice did not say I couldn't do something. During that same time, I came across a lot of content and instances that highlighted the importance of feeling connected to your goal and setting a meaningful goal so you feel passionate about achieving it. I felt it was the universe giving me signs to really dig deep into my goal and explore it.

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When I assessed it and my feelings for it, I realized it was really not something that I truly wanted. I wanted financial independence and abundance and happiness and wanted to be a great writer and speaker that made a difference, a positive one, in the lives of people but I did not want to be the best speaker in the whole wide world. It wasn't really my goal and I also realized that it was okay to not have that goal. It is simply okay to not want to be the best at everything and move at a certain pace and even slow down completely for a while.

You know, you do not have to be a part of the rat race going on in the world if that's not what you want. You do not have to wish to be a millionaire or the best singer in the world if that's not what you truly want. Being good enough at something is okay too and if slowing down makes you happy, so be it. Accept it and embrace it- you need to be happy for yourself and not to prove something to the world. So if you feel happy with working just a little and having what you can easily manifest, that's perfectly fine. If you do not want more, it is okay. You do not have to want more just because everyone else wants more- just be happy for yourself and work at a pace that suits you even if it means you have to move at the pace of a sloth. Haha.

Do share your views on the topic please. Your support is what keeps me going.

Love and light,

Sharoon.

I am running a writing contest with 5SBD up for grabs for the winner so if any of you would like to participate in it, click on the following link:

Shary's Writing Prompt Contest #4 and Results of Contest #3

Here are some of my articles that may interest you:

Just Be You for You..

What is Matriarchy? What Do You Think a Matriarchal Society would Look Like- @ecotrain QOTW

Reintroducing Myself...

How to Keep Your Eyes on the Goal...

A Discovery I made about Myself with Self-Awareness...

Celebrate the Inner You- Happy Women's Day!