We are living faster, but are we living better? A.

It is believed that being fast becomes more of a curse than a blessing. Youd expect that if you manage to achieve more with less, you wouldnt need to work so hard. But its a vicious lifestyle. Were impatient. We lose focus. We forget what is important. Productivity has increased exponentially in the past century. However, working time has also increased. Paradoxically, isnt it? We achieve more, want more, create more, then we need to work more. Its never ending. That is how we evolve. It is the law of the jungle be faster, or die. But we are getting faster than we were designed to be. B. In his book Faster: the acceleration of just about everything, American journalist James Gleick says that people who live in cities are suffering from hurry sickness we are always trying to do more things in less time. As a result, our lives are more stressful. He says that if we don't slow down, we won't live as long as our parents. For most people, faster doesn't mean better. C. No time for the news. Newspaper articles today are shorter and the headlines are bigger. Most people don't have enough time to read the articles, they only read the headlines! No time for stories. In the USA there is a book called One-Minute Bedtime Stories for children. These are shorter versions of traditional stories, specially written for busy parents' who want to save time. No time to listen. Some answer phones now have 'quick playback' buttons so that we can re-play people's messages faster-we can't waste time listening to people speaking at normal speed. No time to relax. Even when we relax we do everything more quickly.10 years ago when people went to art galleries they spent ten seconds looking at each picture. Today they spend just 3 seconds. No time for slow sports. In the USA the national sport, baseball is not as popular as before because it is a slow game and matches take a long time. Nowadays, many people prefer faster and more dynamic sports like basketball. The only thing that is slower than before is the way we drive. Our cars are faster but the traffic is worse so we drive more slowly. We spend more time sitting in our cars, feeling stressed because we are worried that we won't arrive on time. Experts predict that in 10 years' time the average speed on the road in cities will be 17km/h. D. On the other hand, some people in the world have started to break the cycle. Many of us,
professionals and regular people, alike are feeling their lives are overly hectic or emotionally out of kilter, and are looking for ways to restore the balance. We are looking to leading a

Its called the SLOW Movement or Downshifting or Anti-consumerism. They have realized that actually, by slowing down, were focusing better, were creating value and we are living better. Many of us, professionals and regular people, alike are feeling
mindful life. their lives are overly hectic or emotionally out of kilter, and are looking for ways to restore the balance. We are looking to leading a mindful life.

E. The benefits for slowing down our existence are that youll have more time to notice the details,
and make less mistakes in your work. People who operate slower are the ones who tend to notice details. In a team, the slow thinker is the one whos going to question reasons, backup options, bells and whistles, and ultimately might help you do less work altogether. In addition, youll take the time to connect with people who might not matter to you at that particular moment, but who will make an impact later on in your life.

What do you get for slowing down?

Here are some benefits for slowing down your existence: 1. Youll have more time to notice the details, and make less mistakes in your work. Im a very proficient multitasker, and I think this is one of my biggest flaws. People who operate slower freak me out Im losing patience very quickly and have the feeling Im out of tune with the ones who operate slower. But guess what? these are the ones who tend to notice details. In a team, the slow thinker is the one whos going to question reasons, backup options, bells and whistles, and ultimately might help you do less work altogether. 2. Youll take the time to connect with people who might not matter to you at that particu lar moment, but who will make an impact later on in your life. Do you start your conversations with Hi Bob. Ive got something to ask. Yeah, Im fine. Heres the deal:. Maybe Bob has some important project or idea going on, that you never took the time to find out. I was amazed at how many opportunities started piling up when I just took the time to ask people about themselves. But building relationships is going to help more than just in business. 3. You will build better relationships. When I call my mother from work, I surprise myself checking email during the call, and becoming less responsive. On the other hand, really hearing her out, asking questions and being supportive yes, even in a 5 minutes call makes a difference in our relationship. 4. Youll eat slower, and will have a better digestion. Slow Food refers to more than just chewing properly and paying attention to how you eat. Its about creating a proper setting, eating healthy food and even making the food yourself. Now, if you spend one hour cooking something, youre not going to shove it down your throat in five minutes, are you? 5. Youll be happier, because youll take the time to laugh and take things less seriously. So youre 5 minutes late. So what? Taking yourself too seriously might do you more damage than good. If you make a mountain out of a molehill every time you miss a deadline or run a bit late, youre never going to slow down. Slowing down actually starts with the mindset that the near future doesnt matter that much. The l ong term does. Put things in perspective.

6. Youll forget less, because there will be less things on your to do list . By slowing down, you will not have time to do everything, and you will need to decide what truly matters. And to those things, you will devote your best time. 7. Youll have less heart and blood pressure problems, and less headaches . Its been scientifically proven that fast reactions are powered by adrenaline. The rush that we get when were stressed is a chemical reaction fueled by the instinct fight or run. But this drains the organism. Keeping it permanently on fast forward is going to make it rust faster. Cells will react. The immune system will become less responsive, and you will get sick much easier. Blood pressure will increase. And, yes, ironically enough, you might be on a faster way to your death. Slowing down, here, really becomes a better option. 8. Youll enjoy your own company more, because youll not feel compelled to DO something every free minute of the day. Youll be free to simplydo nothing. My theory is that the compulsion to do things fast comes from a perfectionist attitude and a need to please. I want to please everyone and be perfect, so I try to do everything. I dont have time to do everything, but I cant let people down, so I do things faster, even if it damages myself. If I have some free time, theres always a task for something or someone. Being alone with myself makes me feel guilty that Im wasting time. Many of us, professionals and regular people, alike are feeling their lives are overly hectic or emotionally out of kilter, and are looking for ways to restore the balance. We are looking to leading a mindful life. Living a mindful life seems more difficult now than it was in the past. The fast life is all around us fast food, fast cars, fast conversations, fast families, fast holidays. We may be living great lives but we arent there for them. We dont take the time to linger over food, over friends, over our family etc. We are not savouring our life and are starving of the real connection to our life. The solution is self-explanatory. We slow down and connect with our life. But often it is easier said than done. Each fast aspect of our life is necessary for other fast aspects to happen, and we have been fooled into thinking we need, or even must, be fast and have what the fast life gives us. If we dont listen to our bodies and to that little voice in our head that is telling us to slow down we may succumb to the myriad of health conditions that are a result of leading fast, stressful lives. The biological costs of ignoring stress are staggering, manifesting in cardiovascular and other systemic diseases and even, new research shows, in accelerated aging. The psychological costs are equally large with anxiety, depression, eating disorders and other emotional illnesses associated with unmanaged stress. To be simplistic, the solution is to pay attention, on purpose, in a systematic way, in the present moment. That is, we need to be mindful. This is the answer. We can develop a wise relationship with our sensory experience through mindful meditation. Mindful living is a way of life that urges people to find calm by connecting with the present moment. Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School has spent much of his professional life bringing the medical worlds attention to the wisdom of the body and the healing that can happen when we get in touch with our senses and our mind. He has been a proponent of mindfulness a Buddhist concept that can be best described as awareness. Awareness of everything, awareness of our senses, our body, our mind. Jon believes in using that awareness to learn to open up new dimensions of well-being and integrity, of wisdom and compassion and kindness in ourself.

He says: Mindfulness is a certain way of paying attention that is healing, that is restorative, that is reminding you of who you actually are so that you dont wind up getting entrained into being a human doing rather than a human being. When we practice mindfulness in our everyday life we are less caught up in and at the mercy of our destructive emotions, and we are then predisposed to greater emotional intelligence and balance and therefore to greater happiness because living mindfully gives us more satisfaction in our job, in our family and in our life in general.