Parents today are often running low on time, energy, and patience. Kids are too distracted, disorganized, and demanding. Mindless multitasking is the norm, and everywhere, busyness surrounds us.
It envelops us like a misty fog, swirling into our communities, our schools, and our homes. We breathe it in every day, without a thought, and soon the fog seeps into our minds, clouding our vision. We run around blindly, or nearsightedly, chasing Today’s To-Do lists immediately in front of us.
Too often, we’ve lost our ability to see further out on the horizon, to keep in mind the big picture of our lives, and to appreciate the gifts we’ve been given. Especially the gift of our children – of laughter and playfulness and questions about why and skinned knees and discovering new worlds and best friends and first loves and bike riding and car driving and, in a heart beat, graduation.
If we’re not careful, the fog of busyness seeps deeper into our souls, and we lose touch with the joy of being with our loved ones. We rush to get out the door in the morning, to make sure chores are done after school, to get from work to dinner to soccer practice and back before dark, to get homework done before bedtime, to hurry up and get to sleep so we can start all over again the next day.
We race ahead through the fog, listening to the radio or TV, surfing the internet or our text messages, trying to keep up with emails and facebook pages. We are increasingly plugged-in, yet disconnected. Family time becomes an endless series of marching orders, negotiations, and arguments. Daily hassles turn into power struggles that erupt into temper outbursts – either ours or our kids. We wonder, where has all the fun gone?
When friends ask, you say, “I’m fine. Busy. Never enough time…” Or “I’d love to…, but I just don’t have the time.” Or you secretly admit, “I’m feeling pretty stressed out. I don’t know if I can keep this up.”
Until one day, you can’t. And you don’t.
You stop mindlessly multitasking and begin making more conscious choices about your time.
You rediscover what’s most important to you and your kids. You find a way to take simple, realistic steps each day that give you more personal energy, more joyful family relationships, and more peaceful ways of resolving conflicts with your kids.
I call this way “Timechoicing.” Timechoicing is about mindful care giving. And receiving. It’s about making conscious choices on a daily basis that lead to fulfilling lives for you and your children. It’s about climbing out of the fog of everyday hassles and living more often in the radiant sunshine that God intended for your lives.
Believe it or not, you really can have more Time-Off to recharge, more Time-In to reconnect, and more effective Time-Out to resolve everyday behavior problems.
It’s your time. It’s your choice.
Comments on this entry are closed.