Real Women move through life at one speed:  turbo.  We play beat the clock each day, trying to fit more and more in.  When we then add on something more to plan for, a big event or an impending holiday for example, we slip into overdrive.

The weeks leading up to Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or…name your holiday) are a flurry of activity and R.W’s are in an extended period of overdrive.  Warning, don’t slow down in front of us, we may just run you over.

Then it happens.  The big event comes and goes.  And R.W.’s begin to shift down.  Bit by bit, we slow down.  We begin to breathe normally, walk at a more regular pace, and our environment becomes less of a blur.

I find myself in that stage right now.  All of the Christmas prep is done.  Festivities are completed.  We all had a great time.  And now….I feel like I’m moving in slow motion.  And I really, really like it.  Lucky for me, I’ve been able to take some time off from work.  I worked only about 10 hours this past week – and unlike when I may carve out time for a vacation in the spring or summer, most of the folks I interact with for work are also taking time off.  So this is the one time of the year when I don’t have the anxiety of seeing 100 emails or calls coming in waiting for my return.

Plus, as any of you out there who have traveled with children know, “vacation” is frequently not relaxing for R.W.’s.  But this time of year, even the kids are in some kind of post-holiday stupor, at least for a day or two.

I’m feeling rather sloth-like.  These furry, funny, odd creatures are notorious for moving very slowly through life.  They move only when they need to.  I am moving as necessary as well…. Today I even managed to do the grocery shopping and get a few loads of wash done. But I didn’t rush.  I took my time.  I “slothed” my way through my day.  It was lovely.

Sure, there is plenty I could be doing.  And I’ll get there at some point.  Fortunately, my family and I don’t have much in the way of plans for ringing in the New Year, so I don’t have to gear up for anything major in the way of celebrations.  If I plan well, I can Sloth my way right into 2014.

I know it will be short lived. In a matter of a couple of days, I, along with all of my other fellow R.W.’s, will be moving back into the passing lane, and pushing that accelerator pedal to get up to regular cruising warp speed.   It really is too bad that we call can’t prolong this phase of slow mo.  Perhaps we’d all live in a gentler, kinder world if we could stay this way.  I like to imagine that this could be what Retirement is like – that is, if I can ever retire.  Plenty of “stuff” to do, but no great rush to do it.  How heavenly.

In the meantime, I plan to cherish every fleeting moment of slow mo.  Tonight, after dinner, I plan to morph into sloth mode, wrap up in a blanket, watch some tv and read some magazines.  Simple pleasures like that are what I literally day dream about during “regular” life.  Now is the time to make them come true.

Of course, there are some disadvantages.  It is believed that sloths move so slowly due in large part to their diet.  They eat food that provides little energy or nutrients… kind of like the unhealthy holiday binge-fest I’ve been partaking in.  It is said that 2/3 of a sloth’s body weight consists of the contents of their stomachs.  Yup, that’s kind of how I feel too.

But that’s ok.  Bring on the slothing.  That’s what New Years Resolutions are for, right?