Are You Reacting To The Life Around You, or Are You Creating The Life You Long For?

Check-in time, how are you?  Really, how are you doing?  Good or bad, drop a message in the comments, or message me through any of my social channels.  I love hearing from you.

Every day we are bombarded with so much information through our phones, TV, the newspaper, etc.  Yes, we still get a paper delivered here weekly.  Earlier this week I walked it from the mailbox directly to the recycling bin and it felt very freeing!  I won’t always do that, but this week I just needed to.

With all of these outside influences, it can be easy to be overwhelmed without even realizing you’re overwhelmed until you’ve hit a breaking point.  I want to come alongside you and keep you from getting to that place of “too much”.

I want you to think about this:

Are you reacting to the life around you, or are you creating the life you long for?

Reacting to life looks a lot like doing the next thing you’re told to do, with very little time for yourself.  Creating life looks more like intentionally pursuing your passions, finding what lights your soul on fire, and getting after it.

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If you were to look at your obligations and daily tasks would you see pockets of free time to explore your interests or try something new?  If you’re like I was a few years ago you may be so deep into parenthood and raising little ones that you don’t even remember what your interests are or what kind of music you like.  By the time you do remember and find a way to get back to “you”, you may realize that your interests are totally different now.  Spoiler Alert: That’s okay!

I know we are all busy with our families and work, and for good reason.  I want you to look outside of those things, and see where you are spending your time when you aren’t doing the things you HAVE to do. *When I say HAVE to do, I want you to really think about what NEEDS you are meeting.  Sure, we HAVE to make an income, take care of ourselves and our families, and eat meals, etc. Look past those things, NOW where are you spending your time?

I used to wish I had more time to read aloud to my children.  Then I realized by just tweaking a few things in our day that would give us the very time we needed to connect over a story.

What can you simplify in your life, or outsource if needed?

When our two oldest children were younger, we had a rule in our family that I know most families wouldn’t agree with, again, that’s okay, I’m not here to please the masses. The rule was that only one child could be out for a sport at a time.

This meant fewer practice and game runs dividing our attention.  The athlete of the season could be fully supported by both parents and their siblings.  Prior to this, I heard many parents complain endlessly about the constraints of sports and the way it made their schedules hectic, eliminated family mealtimes, and left them feeling like a taxi service.  I knew I didn’t want that for our children, or us!  So, this rule worked for our family.

That was just one of many areas that we simplified. Sometimes you cannot simplify an area, but rather you need to outsource it to someone who has both the time and a passion, for the job that needs to be done.

Next week I will share more about simplifying at home, and how some small changes that you can do in an afternoon could bring more peace to your body and mind.