Slowing Down Isn’t Easy — But I’m Working On It

Blog Post: What Could You Do Less Of?

What could I do less of?

Honestly?
Two things: worrying… and acting like every day has to be a full-blown production.

I’ve been a worry wart my whole life, and as I get older, I seem to notice every tiny sensation my body creates. A bump here, a tingle there, a random twitch that lasts three seconds — my brain treats all of it like breaking news. I could write a medical drama based solely on things that turned out to be absolutely nothing.

And the funniest part is this:
my oldest daughter calls me about things she finds on her body — a mark, a bump, a feeling that seems “off” — and inside I’m thinking,
“OMG… you have that too?”

Not the bump — the personality.
She worries just like I do. She notices every tiny thing just like I do. She inherited that instinct straight from me, and every time it happens, I’m reminded the apple didn’t fall far from the anxious little tree.

But here’s the other thing I know I could do less of:
thinking I have to accomplish something big every single day.

I’ve lived my entire adult life in motion.
In retail, especially at the level I worked, relaxing wasn’t even in the vocabulary. When you’re responsible for multiple locations and thousands of employees, you’re trained to stay alert, stay ahead, and stay on top of everything. You don’t wait for problems — you hunt them.

And that mindset doesn’t magically turn off just because you retire.

Even now, if I sit still for too long, I feel guilty — like I’m wasting time.
A “day of rest” has never existed for me unless I’m sick.
Vacations? I’m still up at 5 AM and at the gym.
I go into the garage for one screwdriver and end up reorganizing half the place.

It’s like a lifetime of being “on” wired me so tightly that slowing down feels like breaking the rules.

But deep down, I know I could use a little less of that. Just a bit.
The world won’t fall apart if I take a quiet morning.
The house won’t crumble if I don’t fix something today.
Life will still move forward even if I don’t check off a giant accomplishment.

So what could I do less of?

Worrying about every tiny thing my body does…
and
treating every day like a shift I have to win.

But here’s the truth — I actually like these parts of me.
They’ve kept me alive, kept me sharp, kept me successful, and kept me paying attention in a world where most people walk around half-asleep. And if my daughter inherited this trait, well… she got it honestly.

And maybe that’s the bigger point:
we should all embrace who we are, as long as the things we do aren’t hurting ourselves or anyone else.

So maybe I won’t change who I am after all.
Maybe the real answer isn’t to stop worrying or stop moving — just to know when to dial it back and enjoy life as it is.

Which brings me to… well… maybe I will change my answer.

If there’s truly something I could do less of?

Eat less ice cream.

Yeah… that’s it.
Final answer.