ToT: Living Life or Too Busy?

TOPIC:
Read this article:  The Busy Trap.  Are you guilty? Do you have many self-imposed obligations making you too busy to enjoy life? And if you have kids, what about your kids? Do they have activities that keep them busy? Are you okay with being too busy or would you like to let go of some of those self-imposed tasks?


Go ahead...go read it.  You aren't too busy to read about being busy.  Trust me.

I do, however, think it speaks volumes that my entry regarding being "crazy busy" is over a week late.

I also think it is hilarious that we're writing about this topic in one of our "self-imposed obligations."  Blogging is fun, but it is definitely self-imposed for me.  It isn't my job and it isn't necessarily my livelihood.  But I like to do it and I WANT to do it, so I've made the once a week obligation.  And I have failed at it many times.

But that's okay.  If I'm not failing at atleast SOMETHING, I'm not learning anything.  There is a lesson in every experience I have. The lesson here is that if I am going to make obligations for myself, I should probably make sure I can keep up with them. 

Or...and here's the hard part....NOT MAKE SAID OBLIGATIONS.

Interestingly enough, my entry isn't late because I have been "crazy busy."  It's late because I've been making a living AND making a life.  Work and play.  That's what we do.

I've let go of many things.  I've stopped snapping 3 bajillion photos a day in the name of "preserving memories."  I've stopped making plans for every single solitary free second of my life.  I've stopped blogging religiously.  And I am much less of a Facebooker these days, although I'm still there. 

I just need to live.  To experience things.  And DO things.

And I am.

The thing about my family (Chris, Jayna and I) being busy is that we're having the time of our freaking lives while we're being busy!!  We're going to festivals and the zoo and baseball games and museums and seeing our friends and eating ice cream at the park and going on vacation and going to our friends' birthday parties and all sorts of fun things.  All self-imposed?  Yep.  All totally outstanding?  HELL yes.

We had a family gathering with my side of the family a few weeks ago.  My uncle extended an invitation for Chris, Jayna and I to visit him anytime we want.  I said to him, "Well, now that August is almost over, we should be less busy with things."  He looked straight at me and said, "You've been married for 10 years and since then I've never known you to be NOT busy."

He's right.

I LOVE to be busy. 

To tell the truth, I probably have some sort of ADD problem.  I can't sit still.  If I have to sit still for a long period of time, I get fidgety and I bite my nails.  I shake my leg.  I tap on things.  I just can't sit still (I'm shaking my leg RIGHTNOW).  I like for my hands to be busy and my mind to be engaged.  And those things lead to...busy.

As far as obligations, that's something I have to work on.  I have a difficult time saying no to people.  I love to see my friends even if it means I'm not giving myself any downtime.  I like to help people out.  And I LOVE to provide new and exciting experiences for Jayna.  I have a hard time passing things up to just sit at home.

This does seem to take some of the spontaneity out of life.  It is rare that someone can call me on Thursday and ask me to do something on Friday night.  Chances are I've already planned something. 

I do not, however, make too many obligations for Jayna.  She has ONE activity:  tumbling.  If she decides when she's a little older that she wants to do more things, we'll talk.  But I want her to have time to focus on things.  I don't want her to feel like she has to fill up her time just to be filling it up.  Obligations will come as she ages.  To me, it is important to just let her be a kid.

Jayna LOVES to stay home and play.  We try very hard to provide almost one full day of every weekend for her to do that (while we keep busy with home/art projects or chores).  She's a kid who needs downtime and alone time.  She likes to go in her room, close the door and let her imagination run wild.  ALL BY HERSELF.  We'd never do ANYTHING to screw with that.  I never want her to think we were responsible for stifling her imagination or creativity in any way, shape or form. 

So...have we fallen victim to the Busy Trap?  I don't know.  We definitely live a full life.  We could probably use more downtime.  But we definitely just don't want to sit around and watch television all day.

Now go check out the links to the right for the other ladies' opinions. Or...are you too busy? :)