Silence… Why Do I Accelerate?

Bobbie and the Pause

This morning, while walking along the quiet path where the autumn leaves were falling gently around us, Bobbie suddenly stopped mid-step, stood perfectly still with his ears lifted toward the sky, and listened to a silence so deep that it seemed to hold the entire world, and in that moment, I found myself asking both him and the part of me that never stops moving — why do I keep running when the path is wide open and the air is calm?

The Pattern of Speed

Silence surrounds me, yet inside, I accelerate, pushing forward even when my body whispers that it needs rest, even when my heart knows that slowing down would be the wiser choice, even when everything around me is begging for stillness.

Where does this relentless drive come from — from parents who celebrated every achievement and rarely praised the quiet moments of simply being, from a school system that rewarded quick answers over thoughtful reflection, from a culture that measures worth in output rather than presence?

My partner grows uneasy when I race ahead in conversations or decisions, my employer becomes overwhelmed when I deliver far more than expected in far less time than needed, and while I’ve always been told that I’m a fast thinker, a gift that sets me apart, I now wonder — does this speed truly serve me, or does it serve only the expectations I’ve carried since childhood?

When to Slow Down — How to Know

The signals are subtle but persistent: a tightness in my chest that appears without warning, meals skipped because there’s “no time,” dreams that feel heavy with obligation rather than light with possibility, and in the years when I ignored these quiet warnings, I hustled until I nearly vanished, until I forgot the sound of my own name, until I rose from the ashes of burnout and still — somehow — kept running.

A client once asked me, with tears in her eyes and exhaustion in her voice, “How do I know when it’s time to pause?” and I shared with her what I am only now beginning to live — pause when joy begins to fade, pause when love has to wait, pause when silence becomes a stranger you no longer recognize.

Enjoy More. Be Aware.

Slowing down is not laziness; it is the deepest form of listening — to the warmth of coffee sliding across your tongue, to the cool wind brushing your skin, to the soft rhythm of Bobbie’s breath as he sleeps beside you.

Real feelings do not disappear when ignored; real people do not walk away when you’re too busy to see them — they are patient, and love is patient, waiting quietly in the spaces you finally allow to open.

I used to believe that serving others meant moving faster, doing more, being everything to everyone, but now I ask myself — who am I truly serving when I race through life, and who am I when I finally stop and stand still in the truth of who I am?

Soul Over Speed

I have walked through the fire of endless hustle, I have known the weight of ashes beneath my feet, I have risen — not once, but again and again — and in that rising, I have come to know this:

the soul speaks in pauses, the soul waits in silence, the soul leads only when I am willing to follow.

No more disappearing into motion.

No more almost-existing in the blur.

I exist — fully, deeply, slowly — in the stillness I used to fear.

Your Turn

Where in your life are you accelerating when you long to slow?

What old pattern, born in childhood or carved by expectation, are you ready to release into the wind?

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Slow down.

The path is not going anywhere.

And neither are you.

#SlowDown #SoulSpeed #BeHere #MindfulPause