Slow the Roll, Life’s dashboard and white villages

We are creatures of habit and going fast has become quite the norm. Everything must be done now or shall I say, yesterday! But how about slowing down, what does ‘slow your roll’ mean? And is this something we should even consider? Our experience in a white village gave us some insights about slowing down and being intentionally slow. Join me on this podcast as I speak about this experience and about a ‘life dashboard’ that can give us warning as well as ‘all clear’ signals and help steer our life’s path.

Transcript

Hello Everyone and welcome to the podcast of the Ordinary Maverick. This is Ajey, your host, an ordinary Maverick sharing real life thoughts and experiences and Maverick tips. If you haven’t hit the subscribe button yet, please do so, and you’ll not miss another episode.

Quick quick…be fast; get going; hurry; let’s go go go, rush or you’ll miss the bus….I am sure we’ve all heard these terms many times over in our lives. Everything has to be done NOW. There’s no time to waste etc etc.  

But have you heard about the phrase, ‘Slow your roll’? It’s actually a slang expression that roughly means to calm down or relax…it’s to instruct someone to reduce the pace or enthusiasm for which they are doing something. It’s to calm oneself down. 

Slow rolling is also a poker jargon. It’s when the winning player deliberately turns their two cards over slowly, as a way of making the losing player feel even worse. Now that’s not so nice, right. In fact, a slow role in poker is perhaps a huge breech of poker manners and etiquette possible.

Generally, the phrase is commonly used to stop a certain behavior, such as drinking too much or too quickly, getting too loud in a public place or spending too much money. 

It’s kind of linked with the phrase, ‘on a roll’. Like if one says, ‘someone is on a roll, it means they are having a great success which seems likely to continue’…you know experiencing continued good luck. Don’t we all wish we were on a roll??? Ha ha.

But there’s merit in the phrase slow your roll when interpreted a bit differently….like just ‘slowing down’. Often it’s an event in your life, some trigger that compels us to take a hard look at our ever crazy, ever fast life and recalibrate to slowing down. But why should it take an event for us to do this? Fellow Mavericks, nothing stops us from taking a step back or rather should I say, just pause and take it slow.

You know the COVID 19 pandemic did that for many of us. Yes, it’s once again an event that pushed us to a whole new way of living and thinking. For many it meant a forced time from work, canceled events, holidays etc. What seemed inconceivable at one point, I mean, we were all so tied to our calendars and schedules that we just couldn’t think about slowing down or taking a break….and then it was just taken out of our hands! We had absolutely no say in the matter and like it or not, we just had to slow down.

Of course, it was different for those that were involved in the pandemic response like my wife who was…involved in one … from one country to another swamped, smashed completely. For her, them it was work work work…24/7, right? But still it was work that was just for the pandemic….nothing else mattered and everything else paled in comparison. But for the majority of the world, life strangely slowed down. 

Well, in today’s podcast, I would like to discuss slowing down consciously. Not when you’re forced to, not when there’s a lockdown imposed on you. No. this is when you out of your own free will, slow things down.  And what better time to discuss this than in the beginning of a new year. Now I am not meaning taking vacations and holidays. Of course, that’s critical and we need to block those definitely. I am referring to something a bit different. It’s building in ‘slow times’ in your calendar and yes, this can also be done during holidays.

Now what do I mean? Something like servicing your car. I mean just imagine, if you were to run your car, 24/7 with your foot on the pedal…accelerating ..what do you think will happen. Well, the engine will give up…it will overheat and fail..Stop. that’s it…you can’t get anywhere. But going slow, making sure your car is regularly serviced …that’s when your car will run fine and you’ll reach your destination.

It’s the same with our minds. Rest is needed to absorb new stuff, new information, process it and assess everything. That’s when good decisions are made. That’s when mental clarity sets in and one is able to absorb all the information, process it and assess all aspects. And it’s linked with physical health, happiness and stress relief. Conscious slowing has been linked with better decision making, connecting deeper with people and having more meaningful experiences. And all of this contributes to overall well being and happiness. 

The trick here is to schedule it. Yes, even ‘slow times’. Intentional slow is what I mean. We started doing this in our family. Blocking out time, where we just go slow. We’ve spent days together where intentionally it’s a slow day.

Reminds me of our time in a white washed Moorish village in the South of Spain few years back. Our girls were still small, and we set out on our first family backpacking ‘slow down’ holiday. We didn’t quite realize it then but reflecting back it was the best thing we did and it set the tone for many of our holidays going forward.

It was Christmas and New Year time. A time where everyone is actually going super fast! Ha ha…lots of parties, get togethers, eating out etc etc. Now I am not saying this is not important or good…and definitely the holidays are a time for catch ups. But try and spend one such big holiday intentionally slow and with just a few people, your immediate family, a close group of friends and you’ll experience what I am saying for yourself. 

So, we spent one Christmas and New year’s in this small white washed Moorish village in the south of Spain renting out a cottage. Truly the village was something out of a travel postcard. Completely whitewashed, all houses painted white, with beautiful old Moorish architecture, lovely curving small streets and pathways, lovingly decorated homes and beautiful gardens tended with lots of love and care, it was a village that still remains in our hearts and soul after more than a decade!

And time stood still. Our days were spent exploring the village, walking through the streets greeting the village folks…who were really friendly by the way, buying the local veggies and fruits from the village market, taking siestas (afternoon naps) just like the village which literally went to sleep, super quiet during siesta hours, and then sitting at the town square, drinking coffee in the small cafés, listening to someone playing the guitar and singing Spanish songs. And on New Year’s Eve, we went to the square and brought in the new year with the village folks, connecting with people we didn’t quite know but just taking in the moment of new beginnings and the shared joy that comes when you celebrate a happy event together. It was just simply beautiful.

We spent a week in that village and loved every moment of it. All four of us reminisce about that holiday where time just stood still in that pretty Moorish village. After that experience, we’ve scheduled many such quiet holidays over the years. Another memorable one was the time when we spent time in a crater….yes, a crater. Well, more on that experience in another podcast. 

I spoke about servicing your car earlier. And how do we know when to schedule it? Well, we take notes and schedule the next service as well as keep a look out on the dashboard. The car’s dashboard tells us many things, when to fill gas, when we are going too fast, and also when the oil levels are low etc etc. Similar to that, build your life’s dashboard. Instead of a speedometer that’s on a car’s dashboard, have a measure of your life’s speed and build in the ‘slow times’. And pay attention to the warning signs too, like inability to sleep, to unwind, feeling anxious and rushed all the time. Schedule regular servicing not just for your car but also for your mind and body. One effective way is the ‘slow time’. Of course, there are other things too, like proper rest, sleep, exercise and good nutrition. But I do believe the trigger for all of this is the ‘slow time’, the conscious slowing down that then helps us figure out the rest. And if you’re able to do this as a family, then that just makes it all the more beautiful, helps connections get stronger and deeper. And of course, having those meaningful relationships contribute to our overall happiness, sense of purpose and well-being.

We did that as a family when we did a holiday in Mauritius a few years back. Planned out the holiday in advance and decided which of the days were ‘slow days’…meaning NO SCHEDULE. Everyone just doing what they want, it was chilled out. Although there were lots of things to see and places to visit in Mauritius, we just penciled in ‘no agenda’ days and intentionally went slow. Again, it was one of our best holidays and time spent together.

So fellow Mavericks, you know the   component 1 of the Maverick formula ‘go with your gut’. And to do that one needs to practice mindfulness because that’s when your gut feeling is right….you are relaxed and at your very best and so is your gut! And of course once your gut speaks to you then that’s it, be true and fall forward…. following through on the other components of the formula.

Here’s the tip, we are slowing to go fast. Let me say that again. Slowing to go Fast. Think about it, because once your car is serviced and all is in order, you can rev it up and race. 

So, get your life’s dashboard in order, keep the different dials of well-being in order and remember regular servicing aka ‘slowing down’ is a key step towards an all green dashboard.

Do keep writing your comments and sharing feedback at ‘theordinarymaverick@gmail.com’ and follow me on Instagram #theordinarymaverick.  I love hearing from you. This is Ajey, signing off and wishing you have an amazing day and a super amazing year! Keep well. 

This podcast series was put together as a team effort from the Bhardwaj family.  Concept, design, title, researchers and reviewers: Ajey, Sanjana, Avantika and Niharika Bhardwaj; Script– Sanjana; Cover design – Niharika. All rights reserved.