Neither you nor your kids have to rush all the time

I know that you and I are both aware of this: the rushing, the increasing busy-ness of life, the never-ending to-dos…

Have you ever paid attention to how much you use the words “really quick,” “just 2 minutes,” “hurry,” “fast” and how much you use them with yourself AND with your kids?

I hadn’t even noticed how much this “rush-centered” vocabulary had snuck into my everyday language and my everyday way of being until my husband pointed it out to me about a year ago:

We were just hanging out as a family on a random Saturday afternoon when I stood up and said “I’m going to pee really quick.” My husband responded with “Take your time. You don’t have to pee really quick.”

Ummm… did my husband just give me permission to take a normal length bathroom break? LOL

Seriously though, it hit me in that moment that I (and so many of us) are in this pattern of rushing and trying to accomplish everything quickly.

Since this experience, I have started to make a concerted effort to watch the nature and the speed of my language with myself and with my kids particularly.

How often do I say things like…

“Hurry up guys!”

“I’ll just finish this really fast… almost done.”

“Can you get this quickly.”

“Let’s finish this up fast.”

If there is one thing I know then it is that rushing never makes me feel good.

It adds unnecessary stress, heightens the adrenaline in my body, dampens the quality of my sleep, leads to eating too fast and too much, and doesn’t leave room for wonder, play, curiosity and ease.

All the things I value so much that I want to give to my kids basically are getting crowded out by me playing into our “rushing culture.”

No more.

I’m done with that.

I don’t want to rush anymore.

And I really don’t want to rush my kids all the time.

Spaciousness of time is one of my life goals and the pursuit and realization of it starts now with me (and YOU), because nobody is going to either change it for us or give us more hours in the day.

Here’s what I want to ask you if you’re dealing with something similar:

Where and when do you rush the most?

How can you rush less?

How can you build in more spaciousness?

How can you create systems so you have fewer errands to run?

How can you change your schedule around so you’ve got less places to be?

What can you outsource?

What are you doing “extra” that’s not necessary, but you do it only because you feel like you “should?”

Where do you need better boundaries?

What words would you like to use less that are currently creating an unnecessary sense of urgency in your life?

Obviously rushing less is about creating a better life for you and your family, but it’s also a huge piece of women’s hormonal health.

I’ve written about the role of stress in women’s hormonal health before, but I want to mention it again here, because it’s THAT important: when your cortisol (a key stress hormone) is relentless in demand, your reproductive hormones will suffer as well as your digestive/ gut and detoxification/ liver systems. In turn, when your hormones are out of whack, you emotions and mind will suffer as well.

In my opinion, from having worked with hundreds of women over the years, stress is the biggest culprit to our physical, emotional and even spiritual well-being. And because we, as women and mothers, often set the emotional tone in our families and relationships, you see how our well-being has a snowball effect.

So, let’s begin with rushing less.

Let’s watch our language, the speed we speak with, the words we use, the way we plan our day.

Let’s commit to less urgency, so we can enjoy, play and live more!

love,

Caroline