Lessons and Realizations from The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

It was such a thoughtful gesture when my good friend told me about the book he was reading and how the whole vibe of the book reminded him of me. What's more thoughtful was the fact that he gave me the book as a gift right after he has read it and encouraged me to digest such literary.

Hello, wholesome reader!

I am writing this post to share my takeaway lessons from the book The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, written by Korean author Haemin Sunim, who is a Zen Buddhist teacher himself.

Just a very short recap, the book tackles about mindfulness in this fast-paced world we currently live in. It has a total of eight chapters, with each chapter discussing about specific topics namely: Rest, Mindfulness, Passion, Relationships, Love, Life, The Future, and Spirituality.

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Busy or in a Hurry?

Do you ever wonder why time moves so fast when you have a lot of things to do? And think how fast everything moves in this world? But the book says:

The world we see is not the entire universe but a limited one that the mind cares about.

When we say the world is moving too fast, the book discusses that it is not the whole world that is actually really moving too fast. It suggests that it is our mind that is working too fast. Catching up a lot of deadlines; looking forward for the weekend to somehow feel relaxed from work; overthinking about the future and how to achieve your goals; we tend to focus on the wrong things and forget to live in the present.

I used to look forward for the weekend and when the weekend comes, I dread for the Monday that is to come. Only because it means that another set of tiring and stressful days are about to pass by again. Even on Saturdays, I start to fear that the weekend is already about to come to an end, feeling like a child hiding inside a closet, fearing for a monster that I haven't seen yet will open the door anytime soon.

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You Attract What You Are

It suggests that the world is experienced according to the state of one’s mind. When your mind is joyful and compassionate, the world is, too. When your mind is filled with negative thoughts, the world appears negative, too.

A famous explanation on this is when you look for people wearing red tops. Because you conditioned your mind to look for a red top, it focuses on finding one. As a result, your mind quickly identifies people wearing red tops.

Same goes with our thoughts. When we have kinder thoughts, we become kinder to people. And since we conditioned our minds to be kind, we also get to attract kindness around us. Remember, our thoughts become our words; our words become actions; our actions become habits; and our habits become our character.

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Finding Joy in the Mundane Things

While it's easy to find things to complain about, finding joy in the simplest things requires practice and a lot of introspection. Especially when life feels routinary, it is not that easy to find something to be joyful for everyday. But if we change perspectives and acknowledge even the littlest bit of joy in our daily lives, without realizing it, we are then attracting joy to come into our everyday scene.

I have personally tried the gratitude journal. This works by logging everyday something that you are grateful for. It doesn't have to be something grand or something spectacular, just write down anything that you felt joy with, even how silly it may be. Little did I know that in the long run, I woke up everyday looking forward for things to be grateful for the day. This habit has humbled me down and helped me see joy in whatever situation I'm in.

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Don't Take It Personally

The world will keep turning even without you. Let go of the idea that your way is the only way, that you are the only one who can make it happen.

I am the type of person who plans literally everything. From the moment I wake up to the minute I go to sleep, all my activities in between are already set for the day. That's why when something doesn't go as planned, I feel so frustrated.

As I go along this journey called life, many things did not happen as I wished they did. So many moments of exasperation taught me to let things happen as they do. After reading books and listening to people's advice, I was awakened to the truth that not everything is always going to happen according to my way. There are things that are way beyond my control and I shouldn't dwell in forcing things to happen.

Another lesson I got is that things happen not because of who I am or what I did. Sometimes, things just happen because they were ought to happen. I may not know the reason behind it yet but as always, time will be the truth teller. Trust me, when you start thinking this way, you'll learn not to take everything personally.

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Overall Conclusion

This book, as my friend told me, is indeed a breather. It has reminded me of so many things, but generally, it reminded me of kindness. To one's self and to others. This book has personally become one of my favorites. Aside from its words, its pages also contain beautiful illustrations, which complement with the thoughts of the author.

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Thank you for reading my post up to this point. I hope you have a great time ahead!

I'll take delight in writing for you again soon.

Love,
Sam ♡