Slow Down Therapy

1. Slow down; God is still in heaven. You are not responsible for doing it all yourself, right now.

 2. Remember a happy, peaceful time in your past. Rest there. Each moment has richness that takes a lifetime to savor.

 3. Set your own pace. When someone is pushing you, it's OK to tell them they're pushing.

 4. Take nothing for granted: watch water flow, the corn grow, the leaves blow, your neighbor mow.

 5. Taste your food. God gives it to delight as well as to nourish.

 6. Notice the sun and the moon as they rise and set. They are remarkable for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed.

 7. Quit planning how you're going to use what you know, learn, or possess. God's gifts just are; be grateful and their purpose will be clear.

 8. When you talk with someone, don't think about what you'll say next. Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.

 9. Talk and play with children. It will bring out the unhurried little person inside you.

 10. Create a place in your home...at your work...in your heart...where you can go for quiet and recollection. You deserve it.

 11. Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive. Rest isn't a luxury; it's a necessity. 

 12. Listen to the wind blow. It carries a message of yesterday and tomorrow-and now. NOW counts.

 13. Rest on your laurels. They bring comfort whatever their size, age, or condition.

 14. Talk slower. Talk less. Don't talk. Communication isn't measured by words.

 15. Give yourself permission to be late sometimes. Life is for living, not scheduling.

 16. Listen to the song of a bird; the complete song. Music and nature are gifts, but only if you are willing to receive them.

 17. Take time just to think. Action is good and necessary, but it's fruitful only if we muse, ponder, and mull.

 18. Make time for play - the things you like to do. Whatever your age, your inner child needs re-creation.

 19. Watch and listen to the night sky. It speaks.

 20. Listen to the words you speak, especially in prayer.

 21. Learn to stand back and let others take their turn as leaders.There will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front again.

 22. Divide big jobs into little jobs. If God took six days to create the universe, can you hope to do any better?

 23. When you find yourself rushing and anxious, stop. Ask yourself "WHY?" you are rushing and anxious. The reasons may improve your self-understanding.

 24. Take time to read the Bible. Thoughtful reading is enriching reading.

 25. Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed and efficiency. The best musician is one who plays with expression and meaning, not the one who finishes first.

 26. Take a day off alone; make a retreat. You can learn from monks and hermits without becoming one.

 27. Pet a furry friend. You will give and get the gift of now.

 28. Work with your hands. It frees the mind.

 29. Take time to wonder. Without wonder, life is merely existence.

 30. Sit in the dark. It will teach you to see and hear, taste and smell.

 31. Once in a while, turn down the lights, the volume, the throttle, the invitations. Less really can be more.

 32. Let go. Nothing is usually the hardest thing to do - but often it is the best.

 33. Take a walk-but don't go anywhere. If you walk just to get somewhere, you sacrifice the walking.

 34. Count your friends. If you have one, you are lucky. If you have more, you are blessed. Bless them in return.

 35. Count your blessings - one at a time and slowly.

The Parrot That Wouldn't Talk

There is an old story about a fellow who lived alone and went to a pet store to buy a parrot.

He thought the bird might fill some of his lonely hours. The very next day, however, he came back to complain, "That bird doesn't talk."

 The store owner asked if he had a mirror in its cage, and the man said he didn't. "Oh, parrots love mirrors," he explained. "When he sees his reflection in the mirror, he'll just start talking away." So he sold him a birdcage mirror.

 The bird owner was back the next day to gripe that his parrot still hadn't said a word. "That's very peculiar," allowed the pet expert. "How about a swing? Birds really love these little swings, and a happy parrot is a talkative parrot." So the man bought a swing, took it home, and installed it in the cage.

 But he was back the next day with the same story. "Does he have a ladder to climb?" the salesman asked. "That just has to be the problem. Once he has a ladder, he'll probably talk your ear off!" So the fellow bought a ladder.

 The man was back at the pet store when it opened the next day. From the look on his face, the owner knew something was wrong. "Didn't your parrot like the ladder?" he asked. His repeat customer looked up and said, "The parrot died."

"I'm so sorry," the stunned businessman said. "Did he ever say anything?"

"Well, yes. He finally talked just before he died. In a weak little voice, he asked me, "Don't they sell any bird seed at that pet store?'"

 Some of us have mistakenly thought that happiness consists of lining our cages with toys, gadgets, and other stuff. Excessive consumption has become the hallmark of our life. "Whoever has the most toys wins" seems to be the likely candidate to be the bumper sticker for an entire culture. But is it so?

  There is a spiritual hunger in the human heart that can't be satisfied by seeing one's own image reflected back in vanity mirrors, playing with our grown-up toys, or climbing the corporate ladder. Our hearts need real nourishment.The love of family and friends, relationships over the pursuit of more things, personal integrity, a secure connection to the Higher Self -- these are the things that feed the soul.

Have you chosen a life course that leads to a destination that matters?

The Strange Secret

George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.

How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.

We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.

Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us.

You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

An excerpt from

The Strangest Secret

by Earl Nightingale