When You Plan to Slow Down… and Forget to Hit the Brakes
Yeah, see that picture up there? The cozy cappuccino, the peaceful coffee shop vibes, the whole “slow down and be present” thing? That didn’t happen. I was going to head out for National Cappuccino Day with a good book, some relaxing music, and a promise to just breathe for a while. But the world had other plans… or maybe I just forgot to hit pause. The world has moved on, as they say — and today, I accidentally let it pull me along for the ride
TL;DR
The Morning That Got Away From Me
You ever have one of those mornings where you swear you’re going to take it easy — and then three hours later, you’re deep in ten open browser tabs, two half-finished projects, and an empty coffee cup? Yeah. That was me.
My sleep cycle has been a bit of a bitch lately. It’s been exactly three weeks since the accident, and even before that, sleep and I were barely on speaking terms. Fractured ribs don’t exactly help the situation either — you can’t roll, you can’t get comfortable, you just exist in this half-awake, half-sore limbo. Last night, or maybe this morning, I was up around 12:30 or 1 AM. Honestly can’t remember. The days blur a bit when you’re not really sleeping. As I got up, my wife looked at me and:
“Okay,” she said, “but come back to bed around 4 or 5 and get a nap in.”
And me, being the responsible adult I am, said, “Yes, that’s the plan.”
You see, normally I wake up around 3 or 4 anyway. That’s my quiet time. When there’s a day job, I use those early hours to plan things out — usually from my old haunt at Denny’s. (Man, it’s been three weeks since I’ve been there. I miss that place.) Anyway, I started my morning like usual — listing out my tasks, sorting priorities, getting into the groove.
Then, as I was about to schedule a post for my music socials or the OWTT pages, I noticed it was National Cappuccino Day. “Perfect,” I thought. “That’s exactly what I need — a reason to slow down, relax, breathe, maybe even celebrate feeling just a little better.”
Fast forward to 8 AM. I’ve been cranking.
New reels and shorts for the Ambient Highways campaign? Check.
Filing paperwork that’s been piling up? Check.
Paying bills? Check.
Hooking up that USB hub that’s been waiting for a permanent home? Double check.
Scheduling my next Runes of Ruin: Secrets of the Forgotten Vault one-shot? Hell yeah.
I’m checking off boxes left and right — I’m on fire.
Then I look up. My wife’s standing in the doorway with that look.
“Explain yourself, mister.”
Cue me staring blankly, running through a mental checklist. “What did I forget? What did I do?”
Yeah. I forgot to slow down. And nap.
Every morning, we’ve got our little coffee ritual — packing up orders for the shop, letting Misty do her “doody,” and letting the cats wander around outside. We talk, we plan, we laugh. It’s our time to reconnect. And right as I was about to say, “Hey, before I forget again, let’s go to that coffee shop,” she cut me off with one simple command:
“Okay, nap time. You need your rest, sir.”
And she was right. As usual.
The Struggle to Be Still
It’s extremely hard for me to slow down. I get restless — like if I’m not moving, I’m somehow falling behind. This whole fractured rib thing has really tested that. It’s forced me to stop, and I hate it. I’ve got a pile of books on my nightstand begging to be read. The Atari 50 collection sits on my Switch, calling me to continue. The Pac-Man Edition Atari 2600+ is still boxed up, waiting for me to tear into it like a kid on Christmas morning. I’ve even got new vinyl sitting in the music room, waiting for that first drop of the needle.
All of it — waiting for me to just slow down.
But slowing down has never been my strong suit. Since being out of work, I think I’ve worked harder than ever before. Except for these last three weeks — those have been a forced slowdown, and not the kind I’d ever recommend.
Still, I know I need to take a break. That was supposed to be today. Now… it’ll be tomorrow.
Yes, I’ll probably be up before dawn again.
Yes, I’ll still tackle a few things in the morning.
But this time, I’m going to try.
I’m going to force myself not to overload the plate.
I’m going to force myself to slow down.
Tomorrow, I’m going to geek out with that new Pac-Man 2600+, move the other system into my office for streaming, and actually read through a couple of those books. Maybe even spin some vinyl and listen to more music for another Review from the Aural Realms.
But here’s the thing — I’m always afraid the world is going to move on without me.
That’s the curse of social media and running a business. You’re constantly told that if you’re not posting, you’re disappearing. If you’re not engaging, you’re irrelevant. You have to feed the algorithmic gods or be forgotten.
But I know better.
You can’t pour from an empty cup.
So tomorrow — yes, tomorrow — I’m going to rest.
Put the phone down. Breathe. Pray life doesn’t try to kill me again.
And try, once more, to Prove Life Wrong™.
Prove Life Wrong
The world has moved on.
It always has — and it always will.
But slowing down isn’t the same thing as being left behind. Sometimes, it’s the only way to keep from being lost entirely. In a world that never stops scrolling, posting, or shouting, pressing pause has become a quiet act of rebellion.
I’ve spent so long trying to keep up — chasing the next post, the next task, the next release — that I forgot what it felt like to just be.
To sit with a cup of coffee and breathe.
To let the record spin without worrying about analytics.
To rest without guilt.
So maybe slowing down is how I fight back.
Maybe it’s how I prove that life doesn’t get to dictate the pace — I do.
Tomorrow might not be perfect. I’ll probably still wake up early, probably still check a few boxes on the to-do list. But I’ll also take a moment — maybe several — to stop and remember that peace isn’t found in motion. It’s found in presence.
Because sometimes, proving life wrong means not pushing harder…
but finally letting yourself rest.
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