Try Slowing Down

By David Spero Fatigue is a big problem in diabetes, and there are a lot of treatments for it, too. But the first one, slowing down, is the hardest. It has great potential benefits, but a bad reputation. Many people can't even imagine slowing down during the holiday season. Dinners to plan, presents to buy, families traveling around; they all take time. Then you have to work to make money to pay for all the celebration. But if you can't rest during the holidays, when can you rest? Maybe when you fall into a coma? Our civilization is seriously screwed up around doing things all the time. Time not spent "productively" is time wasted. You're only as good as what you do, how well you keep your house, take care of your family, perform your job, make your money. Slowing down is equated with giving up, goofing off, being lazy. Spend time in nature? Take a half hour petting your dog? What are you, some kind of deadbeat? The employing class wants us to make work the center of our lives. Our health, our happiness, and our families don't agree. All the great spiritual traditions tell us to rest. Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe that God gave us a Sabbath day. He commanded us to spend it enjoying life and appreciating our blessings. Do we? Lao Tzu founded Taoism partly around the concept of wu wei, or not doing. "You do nothing, and nothing is left undone," he wrote. "For those who practice not doing, everything will fall into place." He didn't mean skipping work to watch reality ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs