Chapter 22

Its time to slow down. On the inside. The external world operates on its own axis and factors, you have few levers to control or contain that world, other than the power of “no” and limiting your exposure of the external to non-toxic levels. But your internal world, this is where you have power, this is where you can shape things to maximize what happens inside of you, so that you can maximize how you shape and respond to the external world.

But there are forces, powerful forces at play inside of us as well. This is a lifelong journey of self-discipline and tempering those beasts that reside inside us. The sooner you do this in life, the more advantages you will enjoy. Unsurprisingly this can get easier as you get older and more experienced. And the hormones settle down, and you can think more than you feel your decisions, and consequently you make better decisions. Those hormones, and those social pressures are huge factors in your youth, not so much in your later adulthood. Though later you have the pressures of health and resources-depletion. So the point is that there are always pressures, no matter your age, but your capacity to manage those pressures generally gets better with age.

And slowing down on purpose is a great strategy. Especially on the inside, so you can be ferociously in the present moment and all here right now. This just gets better and better as you practice it, but it requires you to slow down inside. Smile. Realize that this situation has positives, and it likely has negatives, and you can choose which to focus on.