I think my next few Grandma Challenges are going to be hard for me and so I want to share a piece of my own story because it may help you understand why I feel prepared to take on these and other challenges throughout the coming year.

Six years ago, I was stressed to the max.  I had just started a nonprofit organization from the ground up, I became a mother for the first time, my husband and I were living in a struggling urban neighborhood and renovating our third old home.  I was working hard to raise funds for the organization which included a salary for myself and my husband because he was preparing to quit his job as a university professor to join me in a 50/50 split of parenting and nonprofit work. 

To say we had a lot of ideals we were trying to live out all at once is an understatement. 

We were on a high speed train, bound for one very big crash.  And crash we did.  My body physically started to shut down, my husband and I did more yelling than talking, and I realized the only reason my son was happy was because he spent most of his days with his grandparents.     

Drastic measures had to be taken.  We closed down the organization, my husband returned to school as a full-time student to rebuild his career, and I spent the next four years clearing out the debris from the train wreck that was once my life.  I ruthlessly tossed everything out of my schedule except the bare essentials - husband, kids, husband’s job, food on the table, a semi-clean house, and a tight circle of extended family and friends. 

There are seasons of life that are busier than others, but when I look back on my life six years ago, I know that much of the busyness and stress was there because of choices I made.  It took four years of soul searching to learn to integrate a new set of choices into my life.  These choices have helped me slow to a speed that feels more like a train chugging along at a reasonable pace.  I can take in the scenery of my life at this speed.  When I was on that high speed train, every moment went whizzing by at breakneck speed.

I still have my days and weeks and months where I feel like I have jumped back on that high speed train, but now I know how to hit the emergency stop button. 

Many of you have kindly expressed concern that I may stress myself out by making too many changes at once.  However, I feel prepared to take on the challenges of this year because I will hit that emergency stop button whenever I need to.

I did not really intend to pose a new Grandma Challenge today but I guess I just did.  Slow down.  It is the first step I had to take to begin living a more sustainable and simple life.  I think my grandparents probably have a lot to say about the pace of modern life and I plan to ask them.

What do you think?  Do you want to slow down?  What can you do today to begin that process?  Cut out one weekly activity?  Take one day off each weekend?  Or maybe just grab a good friend and have a conversation about slowing down and take one, small step in that direction.