Enjoy the Slow Road
One of the things I have noticed as I get deeper into this blogging adventure is just how quickly it can accelerate away from you. ?I think most of us are familiar these days with the pace of twenty-first century life, and it?s a common refrain indeed to lament about how busy we all are, where did the time go, if only I had more hours in the day, and so on and so forth. ?For me, just a few months into writing on The Carpe Diem, I?ve found that blogging acts as magnifying glass or an accelerator for this feeling.
Not only blogging ? but the subject matter is another compounding factor. ?Whether you are a blogger or not, if you are reading what can be broadly described as ?self-improvement? or ?personal development? sites, there is so much good quality (and some not so good!) content out there it is easy to fall victim to what could be called self improvement information addiction. ?Reading positivity blogs and sites tend to be uplifting, that?s why we seek them out after all. ?But if you are not careful, this can end up being an addiction in its own ?right ? looking for that one more story that has the all the answers, or that next feel-good piece that will give me that next shot of uplifting positivity. ?Pretty soon, you are addicted to that hit like any other ? but not actually doing?or implementing anything.
Combine the two ? the addictive nature of the self-improvement genre plus the desire to build and grow a successful blog, and you have a powerful recipe for information overload. ?Increasingly, that?s where I find myself these days ? with an increasing sense of excitement as I read more, discover great new sites, comment, participate on social media, and generate ever more exciting ideas for where I would like to take this blog. ?Yet it ?begins to get overwhelming, when you realise how many things there are to do and so many exciting things to do ? that you actually don?t get anything done at all!
Many of the best sites ? such as Zenhabits and Be More With Less, advocate a simplify and ?reduce message to both blogging and life in general. In principle, I completely agree with the sentiments. ?In practice however, for those of us with regular day jobs ? well quite frankly I find it really hard to implement. ?In between our regular jobs, there is family commitments, and even if you are single with no kids there is still a household to run and maintain. ?Finding time to do all these exciting things that are so addictive are to some extent optional extras, and its really hard to juggle it all without becoming completely overwhelmed. Ultimately, it all ends up being stressful and even depressing, which is precisely the situation we set out to avoid!
So to a large extent, this post is a bit of a reality check. ?I?ve had to remind myself to slow down, and most of all ?enjoy the journey. ?It?s very easy to become focused on the desired end state ? a better me, a successful blog, financial freedom etc. ?These things are valid goals and I suspect that many of us have similar or equivalent goals.?But the true joy is in the journey, savouring the moments, the small successes, every step forward. ?I?ve talked about this before, but it is just so easy with the pace of events to ?fall off the wagon? so to speak.
So this is my reaffirmation to slow down, take a deep breath, and remember to enjoy the journey. ?If I focus on enjoying every day, and savouring the small successes, then the bigger ?goals will inevitably be achieved.
What are your thoughts ? do you find yourself increasingly swept into the information overload vortex? ?What mechanisms do you use to keep in control, on focus, and most of all, enjoy the moment? ?Would love to hear your thoughts.
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