<\/p>\n
One of the many things I love about this town I live in is the pace.\u00a0 <\/span>Everyone slows down here.\u00a0 <\/span>People hang out on porches and drink coffee in the morning.\u00a0 <\/span>People often walk to town instead of drive.\u00a0 <\/span>People hang out in cafes and stop to talk in the middle of the street.\u00a0 <\/span>And if I go to an event in the afternoon, it is highly doubtful I will summon up the energy for an evening event.\u00a0 <\/span>Why do two things when I can do just one? \u00a0<\/span>Why pack too much into a day?\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s so unnecessary.<\/p>\n The speed limit on the main road here is 35.\u00a0 <\/span>Yes, there are people who go 45, but it\u2019s oh so nice to go 35mph.\u00a0 <\/span>There are reasons for this speed limit, of course.\u00a0 <\/span>One is that there are often deer by or in the road, or elk jumping over it.\u00a0 <\/span>Secondly, there are children and walkers and bicyclers.\u00a0 <\/span>But mostly, I think we just don\u2019t want to listen to cars zooming around.\u00a0 <\/span>We want to smell the fresh mountain air and hear the birds.\u00a0 <\/span>There are no racing rats here.<\/p>\n I bet our blood pressure is lower here.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s kind of like we live at vacation speed even though it\u2019s \u201creal\u201d life.\u00a0 <\/span>I wonder why we live at a slower pace here. Maybe because we are so surrounded by nature, we live more at the pace of nature.\u00a0 <\/span>Or maybe it\u2019s because we don\u2019t need to prove anything.\u00a0 <\/span>In other parts of the country, everyone feels this desperate need to ACHIEVE.\u00a0 <\/span>Here, we enjoy \u201cbeing\u201d a lot more.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s so refreshing.<\/p>\n What would happen if you gave yourself permission to live life at a slower pace?<\/p>\n What would happen if you walked instead of ran?\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What if you walked instead of drove???<\/p>\n What if you spent more time at home?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you spent more time outside?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you spent more time with your kids and your pets?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you ate more slow food and less fast food?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you started out your mornings watching the sun rise?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you ended your days watching the sun set?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you didn\u2019t have anything to prove?\u00a0 <\/span>What if it was okay to enjoy life more?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you didn\u2019t have to succeed at anything?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you were allowed to take more naps?\u00a0 <\/span>What if you spent more time on your porch and less time at the office?<\/p>\n Living life more slowly feels really good.\u00a0 <\/span>Try it sometime!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the many things I love about this town I live in is the pace.\u00a0 Everyone slows down here.\u00a0 People hang out on porches and drink coffee in the morning.\u00a0 People often walk to town instead of drive.\u00a0 People hang out in cafes and stop to talk in the middle of the street.\u00a0 And…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":553,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,181,183,180,184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-porch","category-rat-race","category-slow-down","category-slower-pace","category-small-town"],"yoast_head":"\n