Once in a while, the universe tells me stuff.

I never get the winning lotto numbers, the secret to eternal youth, or the recipe for calorie-free peanut butter fudge. But occasionally, I do learn something useful. This time, the message was clear: "Slow down."

Last month, I moved from Cleveland to Columbus in what was probably the easiest move of my life, thanks to the professional moving company who did all the heavy lifting and truck driving. Bless 'em. But, even though the onus wasn't on me to make the move happen, I still felt all kinds of pressure to unpack, get settled, get organized, and for some reason, to do it in a big fat hurry. The boxes, of course, were mocking me.

Instead, I got sick. Not "mild case of the sniffles" sick, but "miserably, completely and devastatingly sick-sick." My first week in the new place was not spent as I had expected. I spent it on the couch watching reruns and driving myself stir crazy.

It dawned on me, in the midst of all that, I had become my own worst enemy. My self-imposed urgency to do things that weren't remotely urgent had gotten the best of me and taken me down. Time to "slow down."


Everything in life takes time. Some things can be artificially rushed without much damage to the original goal, like instant vegan ice cream. Other things will always require time in order to achieve the desired results. This goes for allowing , family-recipe , and for keeping your mind and body healthy.

So, even though I haven't unpacked all the boxes or hung all the curtains, I'm not sweating it. Instead, I'm focusing on what's important. Be healthy. Be happy. Take time to let the yeast rise, and to treat yourself whenever you can. And those tangelos aren't going to eat themselves.


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