Take Time to Chill Out

We are living in a “gotta keep up, gotta keep moving” era. Do you find yourself living like a sheep, following the flock because you are afraid of not keeping up or not being good enough? When what you should be doing is reflecting on the kind of life you truly want and then set your priorities. After hearing about the recent college scam scandals that have been all over the news lately, it makes me wonder. Are folks still buying into peer pressure? It seems a little ridiculous once you leave high school and college, yet people are still buying into it without even realizing it.

Rarely do we stop and ask ourselves “Is this what I really want?” Or if so, why do we want it? No, instead we add more and more onto our plates until our schedules are over flowing way too much. I am sure we have all heard parents complaining about being a chauffeur to their children, spending a ton of hours driving them around from one activity to another. Yet, aren’t we the ones in control of our calendars and schedules? Are we really spending any ‘quality” family time at home? If most of us are truly honest with ourselves we would realize that we are just placing our children in countless activities just to keep up with everyone else. Because we fear that if our children are not doing what everyone else is doing they won’t measure up. They won’t have the same opportunities as other children or that we are terrible parents if we don’t keep them active. Yet, all we are really doing is setting our children up to run around with full schedules just like ours with their childhood being one gigantic blur.

What happened to just “chilling out?” Growing up I remember us children having a great time using our imaginations. We played out doors and created our own outdoor games and they were fun too. Even school is hectic now-days. Children have back packs that are filled to the brim with homework assignments, that don’t allow them to even get a break once they get home or spend enough quality family time because it needs to be all done by the next day. By the time homework is done, it is dinner, bath and bed. What a life! We should want our children to grow up saying “Being a kid was great?” oppose to not remembering their childhood.

My children now adults, but during some of our rap sessions we talk about my childhood and the games we played and created and they get a kick out of hearing it and I am glad to have something to share. We had this one game we all played on hot summer nights. We would sit on the front porch and as we hear cars approaching we would yell “My car!” and if the car was nice those of us that yelled “My car” would be so excited, but if the car was busted everyone had a good laugh” that took so little effort but was really fun. But, what made it really fun was that we were all together having a good time.

So do you wonder if we are doing too much? Are parents and children under too much pressure? Are all those extra activities really benefiting us or our children in the long run? Or is it all placing a big burden on us? Why not just live our lives like we want without trying to keep up with what everyone else is or not doing. Have our own values. It will take a great ton of weight off of not just your shoulders, but you and your family’s minds as well. Trust me it will be all worth it to just take some time and just CHILL OUT!

Photo by: Steven Diaz/Unsplash.com

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