We Do it to Ourselves.

We wake up in the mornings in such a rush already. Before the day has even had a fair chance to revel itself, alarms are ringing, texts are coming in and our emails are another mile long since the night before.

So we rush. Rush to answer text. Rush to get ready. Rush to beat the clock. All to get to where we ‘have’ to be or to move on to the next ‘thing’. Many people are gone all day only to get home late, once again rushing. Rushing to pick up the kids, or bring them to the 5 different activates they put them in, or to cook dinner, or check more messages. By the time the day is wrapping up it’s time to go to bed and do it all over again once the alarm goes off.

Yet why? Why do we create for ourselves lives like this? No one did this to us. We do these things to ourselves. We do them to ourselves by wanting more. We do this to ourselves by wanting the best of what’s out there. With so many demands, many people are left not knowing how to relax and take in the true life that surrounds them every day. That wasn’t even a thought at 5 or 10 years old and definitely not the plan at 20 years old, but as time went on and more was desired, work became more demanding to take care of those desires.

Yet how many of those desires are really real? How many of us are really completely over joyed to drive a 2018 model car opposed to a 2015 or perhaps even a 2010? How many of us are completely over joyed because we have the biggest house on the block with the most expensive furniture compared to the guy down the street?  How does it really make you feel if you are wearing a pair of jeans that cost $80.00 compared to finding them for $20.00 or better yet, $5.00?

I’m not saying those things are wrong. They aren’t if that is really your life goal. Yet if you’re waking up only to work, coming home so exhausted only to do it all over again, then maybe it’s time to reconsider what you’re really working toward.

Life shouldn’t be about rushing. Life shouldn’t be about wanting the best of the best because your neighbor has it or you feel the need to impress whoever you feel the need to impress. All that is going to fall back on you. Sure, you could be in the spotlight for a moment but in reality, you’re the one spending many of your waking moments in a hurry, or perhaps stuck in a rough position at work… a place you’d rather not be but cannot leave because you need to clear x amount of dollars a month.

The sad thing is, many of us will live this way for years without realizing it. Years. Some worse yet…a lifetime.

When you turn 80 or even 90, how do you want to look back on your life? Do you want to look back on it remembering all the wonderful rich experiences you’ve had? Perhaps with friends, your significant other or your children? Do you want to look back remembering the simple camping trips you’ve taken or that time you went to Italy or the trip to the Carolinas? What about looking back to the sunrises and sunsets you saw because you weren’t in a hurry to the next big thing?  What about actually stopping to enjoy the home you’ve bought or the books you buy but you don’t have the time to read or making time to actually visit the friends you’ve made along the way? Are you creating a life where you could look back on the beautiful and peaceful wonders of nature or opening new opportunities to the sheer joy of learning and discovering things for yourself or with your loved ones?

For your sake and for the ones around you, I hope that is so. I hope you are finding ways to create the life you want and dream of other then living a life you work so hard for only to feel drained physically and mentally at the end of the day. I hope you have found ways to direct your hard earned money towards your dreams and not towards another high payment that will cost you ridiculous hours and years away from your home and family.

The key is to stop and think. Look around you. You’ve created it…the space you see as you’re sitting reading this.  Think, are you working harder to the goals you have or are you just working hard? There is a big, big difference. Only you can figure that out for yourself. Only you know how you’d like to write your story in the end.