Sexy Hot Beauty

An important lesson From Adam Sandler’s cautionary tale, Click - Slow Down, Family Comes First. Why? Because in the frenzied pursuit of a better future, it’s easy to forget our own frail mortality and neglect taking time out for the most important people and things in our lives.

In memory of Steve Irwin and all the wondrous work he has done for conservation awareness. Here’s one guy who know what it means to live in the here and now. May he rest in peace.

Slowing Down the Pace of Life
By Sally Lever

For those of us who are sustainable living enthusiasts, one of the areas we like to discuss is alternative, renewable energy sources – solar, wind and wave power rather than using fossil fuels which we know can have seriously negative consequences. Just for a change let’s focus on our own personal energy and think about what’s fuelling us as human beings. Of course we all need energy to live day to day. Energy helps us to get motivated, to concentrate, to act consistently and live our lives to the full. But where do we each get this energy from? What fuels our minds, bodies and spirits?

As human beings living in our physical forms we have a wide choice of fuels available to us. From the wellbeing point of view, some fuels are better than others. We can choose to derive our personal energy from those fuels that support our long term health in a positive way such as exercise, nutritious food, the love and support of our friends and families, soul food such as music, art, being in nature. Or we can choose other less sustainable energy sources such as adrenaline, nicotine, caffeine, junk food and anxiety. These may fuel us in intense bursts but ultimately put our health at risk. Like fossil fuels and solar power, both types of energy can get jobs done, but only one supports our longer term physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Have you ever wondered what it is that makes it so challenging to live with less of the consumer lifestyle and more of the sustainable lifestyle? I would venture to suggest that a major culprit is our addiction to adrenaline as a source of energy. Our culture promotes speed and as a result we live in a frenzied, frantic world. Faster is better apparently. We are seen as successful and important if we are busy, if there are overwhelming demands on our time, if we are so engrossed in our human “doings” that we have no time left to be human “beings.”

How on earth did we get to this state of affairs? For many of us, this is the way we were raised and so this has become a comfort zone – living our lives in a hurry, fuelled by adrenaline.

Adrenaline was never designed to be a major fuel. Our flight or fight response is supposed to be a mechanism used as a last resort for getting us out of danger, or the rocket fuel firing us to achieve exceptional feats. Over use puts our human systems under stress. According to BUPA, 80% of Doctor’s referrals are for stress-related illnesses. We have a tendency to engage in activities that cause an adrenaline rush because it gives us a sense of excitement. For example, working to short deadlines (ever wondered why they’re called deadlines, by the way?), driving at speed, eating on the fly, multitasking. It makes us feel useful, successful, validated, and indispensable. It gives us instant gratification. But frequent use of adrenaline causes a crash in blood sugar levels and depletion of our nutritional reserves. Over time this can lead to heart disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue states, insomnia, suppressed immunity, anxiety and depression.

Comfort zones such as this one are not generally areas of personal development and learning. The reason they are comfortable is because they are familiar, not because they are necessarily what’s best for us. We are too rushed to cook a meal, so we eat processed, over packaged food, high in calories, low in nutrients. We are late for an appointment, so we take the car rather than using public transport, cycling, walking, or sharing a lift. Personal growth involves summoning the courage to step outside and be challenged. To live sustainably, we need to remember to slow down and give ourselves time to be true to our values. We can only live sustainably if we are mindful of how our everyday actions affect our planet.

One way of slowing down, then, involves acknowledging that we are using unhealthy sources of personal energy and deciding to change. It involves recognising where we are operating within our comfort zones and how we need to be challenged in order to grow. Then it becomes much easier to live a more sustainable lifestyle.