How To Recognize When You Need To Slow Down

Several years ago, I taught high school students in the Bronx during the summer. One particular day, I received news that felt heavy; soon after that, it was lunch. During this time, I had a panic attack and could not bring myself to stop crying and hyperventilating. It was scary. My kids at the time saw me this way and came to my comfort. For years, since high school, I've been getting panic attacks. I never knew what they were called.

After this experience, I learned what it was and that I needed to slow down. As a daughter of immigrants, I was not the oldest, but I was the one depended upon for customer service, translation, grocery helper needs, and much more. I felt the pressure of being a first-generation college student, working 9-5 during my summers, and the exhaustion of commuting into the Bronx and back home to Brooklyn. It felt like a large responsibility for me at the time, amongst other stressors.

By sharing this short snippet of my story, I want to remind you to slow down, ask for help, and take the breaks you need.

Focus On What Really Matters

We try to speed through life to get everything done, checking everything off our to-do list, but we miss the part that matters the most. The special moments occur when you can slow down and enjoy your own company or the company of loved ones and make memories. Don't be so in a rush to check off the next to-do list task.

Sit in gratitude. Sit in just being. Stay in that feeling because, more often than not, we miss it and move on to the next thing. Then we wonder why society is anxiety-driven, panicking every second of the day. Take a break.

Life isn't only about doing or accomplishing things. It's also about being, being with yourself, being with God, and being with your loved ones.

Note to self: Just be. Just breathe.