Saving babies.

“I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Well it seems I have some forced time on my hands this past week and so I find myself back at the keyboard to write. It’s a good thing… which brings me to my point.

Slowing down.

Like everything that appears in my life’s path, I grab it, study it, analyze it, dissect it and of course… overthink it. This surgery is no different. What lesson can I learn from this? What purpose is it serving in my life and what is it here to teach me. Hey, I did include overthink so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It dawned on me this morning as I set in to clean up my coffee remnants and put together my breakfast. Bracing myself for yet another simple task that the past week has been a little more difficult than normal. Taking more time than normal. I expected all of this and I was ready for it. But it exhausts me a bit more each day.

I am already eager to get back to my normal pace. The pace that sees me mule packing groceries into the house so I only have to make one trip. The pace that causes me to spill water all over my floor because when I fill up my water bottle from the painstakingly slow fridge dispenser, I can’t use two hands. Why would I? The other hand could be so much more useful washing an apple or putting away dishes. Just silliness, I say.

So when one of my limbs – my tools – breaks down, I have to slow down to compensate. I am no longer able to juggle a plate on a toe, a glass on a finger, a spatula on a hand and a bowl on a knee. It’s true. I am human and I have limits.

It’s horrible. Or is it?

Stopping at each move to plan carefully and ensure I don’t hurt myself is new to me. Being delicate. Being methodical. Purposeful. And realizing that at the end of the day, I will still get fed. Dogs will still get attention. Clients will still get their results. Contractors will still keep working. My social life will still exist.

At the end of the day, I am not saving babies. Everything will happen in it’s own time and at it’s own pace and no one will be ignored or deprived. And maybe, just maybe, it will get done better and stronger than it was before. Before I thought I was super woman.

Maybe slowing down is a really good lesson to be forced to learn. To prioritize. To place importance on things that deserve it and not so much on the things that don’t.

Slow down. Breathe. Think. Do.