Slow Down, Survey, Select 🧠

A City Moving Too Fast

Storieopolis was buzzing again, but not with productivity.

Citizens hurried, messages flew chaotically, alarms flickered at random, and the entire rhythm of the city felt rushed, tense, and scattered.

Mayor Judy Cortex stood on her balcony, watching the chaos below.

“This isn’t stress from danger,” she said quietly.
“This is stress from speed.”

People weren’t thinking, they were reacting.
Not choosing, just coping.

The problem wasn’t effort.
It was pace everyone felt a sense of urgency and a need to rush

Judy Gathers the Citizens

In the central plaza, Judy addressed the anxious crowd.

“There is nothing wrong with Storieopolis,” she began.

“The problem is that we are operating faster than our systems can manage.”

“What we need is not a reset…
but a rhythm.”

Then she revealed the city’s ancient three-step process for regaining clarity:

Slow Down, Survey, Select

The plaza fell silent.

Step One: Slow Down

Judy demonstrated the first step:

She took a single slow breath.

“Slow Down means interrupting the momentum before it carries us away.”

It doesn’t require stopping your life, just slowing your state:

• a breath

• a pause

• a moment to unclench your shoulders, jaws or hands.

• a step taken deliberately instead of urgently

As the citizens tried it, the plaza softened:

Karen’s alarms dimmed.
Nora’s messages stopped overflowing.
The air felt less frantic.

Slowing down brought the city back into the body.

Step Two: Survey

With the city calmer, Judy continued.

“Survey means looking at what’s actually happening, both inside and outside.”

Surveying is not judging.
It is noticing:

• What am I feeling?

• What do I need?

• What triggered me?

• What’s my body telling me?

• Is this urgency real or imagined?

• What supports do I have?

• What can I appreciate right now?

She explained:

“Surveying clears the fog.
It reveals your choices.
And gratitude makes the picture steadier.”

The citizens looked inward, and their expressions shifted from tension to understanding.

Surveying returned them to awareness.

Step Three: Select

Finally, Judy lifted both hands.

“Select means choosing the next best step, not the perfect step.”

Select is the practice of agency in action:

• selecting one task instead of ten

• selecting a supportive behavior instead of a reactive one

• selecting rest when tired

• selecting water when foggy

• selecting clarity over panic

• selecting gratitude over scarcity

• selecting intention over impulse

“Selection,” Judy said,
“is what turns awareness into direction.”

The citizens nodded, this step made them feel capable again.

 The 3 Steps in Practice

Judy led the plaza through the full sequence:

1. Slow Down

One breath.
One softened jaw.
One intentional pause.

2. Survey

What needs attention?
What’s actually happening?
What small gratitude stabilizes you?

3. Select

What is the next manageable action?

As citizens practiced:

• conversations slowed

• decisions became calmer

• messages flowed more smoothly

• alarms stopped blaring

• the entire city regained its rhythm

Not through force,
but through deliberate awareness.

Judy’s Closing Message

Judy stepped forward.

“Storieopolis thrives not on speed, but on clarity.

Slowing Down reconnects you to your body.
Surveying reconnects you to your experience.
Selecting reconnects you to your agency.

These three steps bring you back into alignment
with who you are and what you need next.”

And as the city exhaled together, harmony returned.

Quick Summary

Your decisions become wiser when your pace becomes steadier, allowing time to.
Slow Down and get grounded.
Survey your situation, both internal and external to fully understand all potential choices.
Select the choice that you feel best, to lead yourself forward, not to the finish line, just the next step towards it. Select one choice at a time and turn that choice into an action.