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Today, which is actually yesterday for you, our dear reader, is Yom Kippur, a day where Jews reflect on their past year, their triumphs, their mistakes and ask forgiveness for those they have wronged. The tradition is to undertake a total fast, abstaining from both food and liquid, which got us thinking about how a religious fast can be very triggering (this train of thought was sparked after reading an instagram post of someone we follow).

Weeks seem to crawl at times and other times they seem to speed by, we are so often looking to get through until the next thing on the horizon we can look forward to. The next project, the next paycheck, the next sports game we get to watch, attend or play, the next date, the next appointment, the next breakthrough...we so often can’t seem to be content with today.

Some weeks seem harder than others, just when you think you have this life thing down, it always seems to throw you a curveball, doesn’t it? Life, it seems, doesn’t do easy, it does interesting and sometimes scary, with lots of “what the Fork is going on” moments (“The Good Place” Reference), but it rarely seems like smooth sailing, at least for long periods of time. But the interesting thing is, we keep on going.

Anyone who have ever dealt with anxiety can tell you, it isn’t like the movies, it isn’t always the sweaty, fall to the floor, rock in a corner sort of thing. It is often the feeling in the pit of your stomach, the nausea, the thoughts racing, the headache, the command in your mind that you just have to paste a smile on your face and act the part until you can fall apart in private. It feels like the end of the world, when rationally, you know it to be a bump in the road, something you will survive (you hope).

I am not sure when I first heard this saying, but it is one of those urban sayings that have snuck into my vocabulary. I like sayings that are visually descriptive and this one reminds me to slow down, put on the breaks and think about what I am doing or saying before I (here’s another good saying) put my “foot in my mouth.” It is important to remember in life that we can’t slow down time but we can take moments to step back and evaluate what is going on in our life, make a mental list of what is serving us well and what things need to change.