How I Was Finally Forced to Slow Down and Listen to My Body

Yesterday I locked myself out the house.

Here’s the story.

My wife and I had an errand to run, and rather than my typical routine of running to the gym and walking home, we drove together to our destination and she dropped me off at the gym on the way back home.

Sounds like a good plan, right? I thought so, too.

Except that, because I wasn’t triggered by my usual environmental cues (need to leave the house = grab house keys), I failed to take my own set of keys with me.

And so upon returning home from the gym, with my wife now at work, I discovered that I had no way to get in.

What makes things worse is that my iPod had died at the gym, my phone was about to die (so I couldn’t afford to spend any time on it), and I had neither my journal nor my Kindle with me.

After managing to get hold of my wife after 45 minutes, I did the only thing I really could do: I lay down in my driveway and had a nap while I waited for her to come to my rescue (I’m sure my neighbors loved that).

But there’s a reason I wanted to share this story today. 

See, for the past few days, my body has been telling me to slow down. I have been pushing myself pretty hard with my workouts, projects and not getting as much sleep as I usually aim for/need.

Now, in that moment, lying there in my driveway, locked out my house, I had no option but to slow down.

And I had a great nap!

Which begs the question: Where in your life is your body/mind/gut trying to tell you something that you keep pushing away? 

Maybe there’s a project you really want to work on but you keep telling yourself you’re not ready.

Maybe there’s something that feels strange in your body but you keep telling yourself it’s probably not serious.

Maybe you know you’re not happy in your current job but you keep telling yourself you need to stay a little longer.

Or maybe your relationship doesn’t light you up but you keep telling yourself it’s just a phase.

Whatever it is, perhaps it would be wise to slow down and listen to what’s truly going on. Before you, too, get proverbially locked out the house.