- Inês Souto Gonçalves
Slowing down in a world of busyness
Sometimes, all we need is to pause, be and fully surrender to the now, allowing ourselves to flow and let life flow, slowing down away from the busyness.
In a world where the always-on culture prevails, it can be challenging to go “against” this collective tendency. It can feel like a lonely path to take away from all happening or the people we follow online or elsewhere (whom we may often check for advice or a sense of connection).
For soulpreneurs and lightworkers like me, it can also feel like we are (somehow) neglecting our missions or that we are just not doing enough. For passionate doers, pausing can even feel like dying a little.
The thing is, we are all different. Some people love being disciplined and can maintain high levels of taking action consistently. Some are more contemplative. I love and embrace this diversity in the Universe. Now I am learning how to embrace it within myself too. I have realized that my soul is inviting me to go deeper into acceptance. To keep redefining what it means to live a fulfilling life, deeply aligned with my true essence and nature. I realized lately that I still had a lot of shoulds (to do and be) and external best practices that were not nurturing my growth and well-being.
Although I am usually quite passionate about my inspired actions, sometimes I can be highly contemplative. During those times, my soul longs for time off away from having to do. As a deeply intuitive and sensitive soul who also needs structure and logical thinking, finding the balance between doing and being can be confusing, particularly during transitions in life (inner or outer ones).
While our bodies have a linear experience in time, our souls are multidimensional. While our mind may need a linear structure, our body and soul experience many cycles during this lifetime. Some of them may involve taking a long time off. Our priorities might change. We may feel called to nurture our health, family, or relationships and work less (whatever that means for us). We may even feel called to take a sabbatical time (for ourselves) while building a soulful business.
As a rebellious high-achiever, I must confess that I have struggled most of my life with the idea of remaining consistent (or so I thought). I thrive on diversity and having the freedom to be creative in my many projects and endeavors. Over the years, I have tried many things, including different courses and short job experiences. I learned not to pursue them all at once (always a learning in progress) because it can rapidly become overwhelming (most multi-passionate and sensitive souls can relate to this).
Above all, I can now see that I have remained mostly consistent with being true to my rhythms throughout life. It may not look that way from a conventional approach or linear thinking. Deep down, I am still breaking free from this perception which made me feel quite inadequate for a long time. However, this renewed sense of freedom is peeling away that which no longer serves my highest purpose.
It is ok to slow down, take a breath, and allow our contemplative nature to sync in and take the driver’s seat of our lives for as long as we feel called to.
The wisdom this awakening brought me whispers:
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