Driving Slow in the Fast Lane

Got projects?  These days, it seems like most of us are juggling several balls in the air in various areas of our lives almost constantly.  The reality is that with nearly instant communication available 24/7, the pace of modern life is just fast.  So how do we, as Lightworkers, balance the need to still operate in this world without getting caught up in it?

I recently took a trip to downtown Denver on the I-25 corridor and that gives new meaning to the word fast.  The road twists and turns through the center of the city with at least four lanes of traffic all jammed next to each other and just about everyone seems to be traveling at least 10mph over the speed limit.  I don’t make the trip often, but it’s a great opportunity for me to practice being slow while traveling really fast.

As I drove, I noted my tension rising (and my grip on the steering wheel tightening!)  I kept wanting to drift over into the right lane where the entrance and exit ramps were slowing down traffic.  But a little voice suggested that I didn’t need to go slow, just to feel slow.  So, I did some deep breathing and re-focused, so that I cleared my mind of anxious chatter.  The inner peace and calm became my experience, and the speed of life around me became mere blips on my radar screen.   I no longer felt fast (even traveling at 70 mph) and the pace of life felt calm and relaxed because what I was feeling came from within.

My little car trip reminded me that I can apply this same principle anywhere else in my life. I realized that I had allowed all of the projects that I am currently working on to create feelings of stress and a desire to constantly put on the brakes by delaying and even canceling some of my projects.  But the projects weren’t the problem.  By getting caught up in my anxiety over deadlines, I had allowed my inner speed to match the outer speed of life, which felt too fast.  I was trying to slow down the outer by putting on the brakes instead of focusing on the inner. 

Once I began approaching my projects from a place of inner slowness, I found I could still work through them very quickly and make rapid progress.  I was able to get back in the fast lane, while still experiencing life from the slow lane.  I still feel as if I have all the time in the world, while outside life is speeding up all around me.  Now I’m back to asking my Soul with confidence, “Got projects?”