A couple years ago, I saw a post on Instagram citing a study that people who walk faster are more anxious. Have you seen this? Have you heard about this? It's one of those things that makes you think: What came first, the chicken, or the egg? Do people walk faster because they're anxious? Or, do people anxious because they walk faster? That and more in tonight's blog post.

A smiley face and the word: 'BLOG TIME'

I drew this using my laptop mousepad

The Smile Effect

The human body is a lot weirder than you may think, a great example being human emotion. It's easy to think that you smile because you are happy, but modern medicine has revealed that it's actually a two-way street. Indeed, if you smile, it'll actually make you happier. Your brain does not differenciate between a genuine and forced smile. It sends out happy chemicals all the same. It's a trick that I keep in the back of my head and use when I'm feeling down. Adeline and I do it to each other all the time as a 'pick me up', and sometimes, we grab hands and jump up n' down (OMG!).

Slowing Down

I say all this because recently I've made a conscious decision to slow down my mind and body. Slowing down means doing things more intentionally, and I've found that it actually makes me more productive. Moving fast is highly stimulating, and leads me to look for comfort in other stimulating activities like social media or Youtube. We are creatures of habit, and we want to keep the ball rolling on whatever weird things we're doing or feeling in any given moment. Feeling anxious leads to anxious behaviors, which in turn create more anxiety. Making a conscious effort to break whatever cycle we're in is the only way to get out, and that becomes easier with practice.

Conclusion

So yeah, I slowed down today and got some stuff done. I even discovered a problem with OmahaUnderground's content network that was causing images not to load. I was hoping to code up a new feature, but that'll have to wait. I want to be an all around more peaceful, welcoming person, like a lot of old people that I meet these days. Maybe that's just because they move slower with age huh? Anyway, thanks for reading yo.