I have a confession to make. I can swim, but I never learned how to tread water.
The interesting thing about treading water is that it doesn’t matter how well you can do it—you can’t do it forever.
Life can feel like we’re treading water sometimes, right?
Things are constantly pulling at our attention. We’re rushing to work, we’re rushing home, we’re rushing to dinner (or to make dinner).
It feels a little bit like we can’t find many wins in our day.
In Hanalei—a town in one of the Hawaiian islands—there’s a funny saying that people go by. I think it’s something like, “slow down”. Trust me, I’ve been there. They really live by this.
It’s simple, yet profoundly difficult for us to grasp.
These people are not in a rush. They are soaking up the 80 degree weather, grabbing their coffee, maybe a smoothie, and they’re settling in. It’s really great.
In our typical American culture, we say things like “grab a bite to eat”, indicating that this is going to be a type of passer-by quick stop for food.
In other cultures, sitting down for a meal is an ordeal that can take hours.
Part of the problem is there aren’t enough actionable steps in our daily routine to help us actually slow down.
Three that have helped me at various points in my life:
Journal
Read
Exercise
This isn’t a “one size fits all” garment, rather they are suggestions that I and many others have found to be beneficial.
Journaling helps you slow your thoughts down. It lends a way for you to deeply reflect on your own feelings or ideas. The beauty of journaling is that it’s a blank canvas for you to exercise creativity or think critically.
Reading will expand your own understanding about a variety of topics in several ways. You can become educated, entertained, or provoked in your thoughts simply because you decided to read a good book or article.
Exercise. Physical stress on your body has proven to result in many benefits both physically and psychologically.
If you feel like you’re treading water, it’s okay, you aren’t alone. But also remember, you can’t do it forever.
It might behoove you to take a page out of Hanalei’s book. Slow down, friend. This thing is a marathon. Not a sprint.