Slowing down is tough.

Small steps start the process.

Slow reading might be a kickstart.

Today, on a walk, I stopped to study the pink-tinged leaves of a Korean dogwood tree and gave myself a pat on the back.

When the year began, I set a goal for myself to slow down. We’re halfway through the year and, to be completely honest, I’d give myself a C or a C-. I’m making progress, like stopping at a dogwood tree, but it’s harder than I expected.

At the beginning of the year, I started with the easy stuff: slowing down while driving, slowing down in the grocery store, and slowing down when I prep for the day, awfully mundane. I began to slow down on my walks: I saw flattened squirrels, hawk feathers, and today I stopped to study dogwood leaves.

And there’s more that gives me hope.

Thanks to a clever man in the U.K. and to Leo Tolstoy, I’m crushing the idea of “slowing down” in another small part of my life. Yes, that Leo Tolstoy, author of War and........

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