Multi-tasking

I have been thinking about our fast-paced lifestyles and the effects of stress on our bodies.

Yesterday, I had occasion to speak with someone who had just returned from eight days in Hawaii. Not just eight days in Hawaii, but eight days with no itinerary, no plans, no schedules, just beach time and reading time.

I was stunned when I first saw her; Her entire countenance had changed. The stress was gone from her face and she even spoke at a more relaxed pace.

I've read recently that studies are now showing that we are not really capable of all the multi-tasking that we once expected of ourselves. When multi-tasking we don't do any one thing as well as we could if we were focusing on just that one thing. Further, when we're multi-tasking to the tune of someone else's priorities it causes us more stress than if we were to multi-task according to our own priorities.

Personally, I would like to have some extended time to multi-task to my own priorities. Quilting, writing, reading, walking, puttering around my home, browsing in shops, having coffee with a friend, would be some of the things I would choose to focus on. Yet even in that I would choose to do one thing at a time and to take the time to be mindful of each moment instead of thinking ahead to what's coming next.

Perhaps it's because I'm getting older, but something inside is whispering to me that it's time to slow down and take time to appreciate simple things. I once thought that the phrase "living in the moment" was an airy-fairy out there kind of idea. Now this fifty-year old woman is beginning to understand what it means and to begin to practice it.

I'm hoping that it will be possible to teach this old dog a new trick!