Photo by Haley Phelps from Unsplash

At some point in life, we all crave momentum, speed, and movement. We want to wake up every day with that push to do something new and be good at it. We want to go for that ‘next big thing’ before anyone gets to it first. We pressure ourselves to dedicate every minute to reach our goals even when indispensable things like our health and relationships get compromised. It comes to a point where it gets a little crazy, and we cover it up by convincing ourselves that these sacrifices are worth the cost.

In our twenties, people tell you not to waste time, and to accomplish your goals “while you still can.” They tell us to wake up earlier than anyone else and to keep hustling until you get what you want. Anything less than perfect is considered unproductive and lazy. Some even go way overboard and give a whole other meaning to productivity.

Although some of them mean well, we can’t always be on the run. Unfortunately, we can’t condition our bodies to keep working 24 hours a day. We can’t always be motivated to expect results to triple every day. This mentality of not wasting time and working harder than everybody else is crippling. People are getting sick, sleep-deprived, and spiritually lost in the process. This is most likely because while we are on the daunting journey of waiting, our true motives are revealed. Most of us may not have the purest intentions, and our desperation to receive short-term gratification is linked with satisfying our egos.

When we’re too focused on owning things and caring about what others have to say about ourselves, our self-esteem is contingent on the unwarranted opinions of other people. Our reputation would heavily rely on the level of satisfaction we get out of their applause. It suddenly becomes a competition with others on how fast you accomplished your dreams and how hard you struggled to get there.

As most people like to say, “The greater the struggle, the more meaningful the journey.” And while that may be true, in this context, the essence of our struggle depends on the sympathy of others. It depends on how others would view our sacrifices as important and admirable.

As we grow older, we get so anxious about not having our life figured out as soon as possible. We view life as a race and whoever gets their first wins in life. So when we fail, we tend to question ourselves— our aspirations, our priorities, our purpose. But eventually, we grow tired of this kind of thinking. Day after day, we grow weaker, confused, and unmotivated. Then, you begin to realize the sense of accomplishment you feel for finishing your daily goals doesn’t seem to satisfy you anymore.

One day, the reality of not getting what we want when we want it just hit us right in the face. One day, we just get burned out and…give up. In this fast-paced world of routine and systematic living, we must learn the significance of slowing down.

“Slow living is a philosophy of life that allows you to be anchored in the present moment, to feel your environment with more sensitivity, to live more consciously, to recreate more qualitative human links. Slowing down the pace and enjoying each moment is the essence of life. While living at full speed, we lose the sense of what we do, the value of things, and we give stress a head start.”

Noemie Graugnard from Polysleep

When you’re in your twenties, you unconsciously feel like you have to be in a hurry with everything. These past few days, I noticed I’ve become so anxious about the future. Besides the fact that I’m pregnant and expecting my first son, I seem to easily get sucked into this endless pit of messing up and making so many mistakes as a first-time mom. But now, I realize that just because you decide to take things slow, that doesn’t mean you’re taking your twenties for granted.

Calculators.org rekindled my childhood.

I remember my childhood very vividly like it was yesterday. After days of ticking to-do lists, running errands, and completing tasks, Calculators.org helped me take a break. Playing outdoors with my cousins and neighbors was how we used to spend our afternoons, and then later get chased by our mothers with a leather belt because we refused to return home.

Playing these games on Calculators.org reminded me so much of my childhood. The innocence, the learning of new things, the pure satisfaction of getting something right out of a first try. Those were only a few bits of the nostalgia I experienced while surfing on the site.

My first impression of Calculators.org is its inviting aura. The longer you browse through the site, the more addicted you get. Although their games are mainly Mathematical and logical-themed, the visuals and skills are presented differently and creatively from the other games and categories. Believe me, these are not the games that you get bored with easily. On the contrary, they get you hooked instantly.

I’ve played many of their games since I discovered the site, but as for now, I’ll just be sharing five of my favorite (and challenging) games on there. You might want to check these out and give them a try.

5 Games I Loved on Calculators.org:

Since I was a child, I loved playing Word Search type of games. It challenges my mind to filter through jumbled words and search for a word out of letters arranged randomly. In a matter of two seconds, you need to find as many words as you can to win. There are a few languages available for this game aside from English, which include Deutsch, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. Word search games improve concentration, patience, spelling, and language fluency among others.

One of my favorite games to play as a kid was typing games. I pride myself on being a fast typer, perhaps because I got a lot of practice from Typer Shark Deluxe on my Windows PC. You play this game by fighting off zombies by quickly & correctly spelling words. Each zombie is associated with a word & they come in waves that get progressively harder and faster. Typing games improve speed and mastery of the keyboard, as well as careful hand-eye coordination.

I also enjoyed this simple Math game for kids because its difficulty is higher compared to others. This is a multiple choice selection game where the goal is to solve basic arithmetic within three seconds. The speed makes the game quite difficult compared to most other games in the collection.

Memory games are very underrated. I enjoy a good memory game once in a while. How to play this game is pretty much self-explanatory. A few selected squares reveal a certain type of food and then quickly vanish. You need to remember which they were located and click on the squares successfully. Memory games are beneficial for a child’s concentration, focus, and attention to detail.

Reorder Numbers is a shuffleboard puzzle game where players place numbers in sequential numerical order on a 3×3, 4×4, or 5×5 grid. Out of all the games I tried on this site, this one is my favorite. I found the Logic games category the most challenging and complex among the other categories.

In my first attempt at this game, I tried the 5×5 grid and successfully arranged the first 23 puzzle pieces in the right order. Unfortunately, for my second attempt (as shown in the screenshot), I only managed to arrange 19 blocks. Honestly, I enjoyed and got upset in both attempts though because it took too long before I could get it right.

Honest Thoughts on Calculators.org Games:

These games are not only my favorite pastime while I have no school, but they also count as brain teasers and strategic practices. There are a lot of games on here that I find too hard and challenging for kids, which I find admirable. Now that I’m expecting, I’m thankful I found a fun and vibrant site where my child can learn how to solve basic mathematical equations while having fun.

Learning mathematics can be intimidating to kids, but when you’re presented with a variety of games, it becomes less intimidating. After all, any hard subject is best taught and learned when there’s a little fun involved. When my son’s old enough to count and do basic arithmetic problems, Calculators.org would be a fantastic, educational site to get him interested in Math.

Calculators.org is an educational website that has a free collection of 12 online calculation tools namely: Savings, Loans, Debt, Budget, Automotive, Credit Cards, Investing, Mortgage, Math, Retirement, Business, and Health. Recently, they added a gaming section focused on math and then expanded into a variety of other fun games for kids & people who like many of the games from their childhood. As of today, they have 17 online games that go beyond Math games.

CONCLUSION:

Living slowly and purposely is the secret to peace. You may find those boring, stay-at-home days unproductive, but once you get caught in the inescapable cycle of pressure and self-doubt, you begin to long for those long, mundane moments in your life. You realize these boring days are really what it’s all about. The days when you have the least thing to do are the days you crave the most. By making choices around what makes you happy, you glow within. That inward joy radiates to your relationships, work ethic, and overall disposition in life.

Slow down because your life is not meant to be spent in a hurry. You have plenty of time in your hands and untapped potential. You wouldn’t want to throw it all away because you’re too impatient and egotistic. Whether you get ahead of everyone else, your destiny doesn’t change. Even if you did all the right things at the right time, that doesn’t guarantee a smooth road ahead.

Adapting a slow and gentle life is the secret to true happiness because there is no force involved. You will notice your anxieties and fears don’t get into your head much when you know what you want and are honest to yourself about the likelihood of you getting it. Being wise enough to distinguish a distraction from a necessary setback will help you move on from failures much faster. But first, you need to learn how to live your life with purpose and open your heart to God’s will.

“Slow living isn’t about determining how little we can live with – it’s about working out what we simply can’t live without.”

Nathan Williams, The Kinfolk Home