Now that school has started, I feel like we are on a roller coaster that is going faster and faster! As much as I try to live a simple life, the truth is, much of the time life feels anything but simple. We are moving fast these days and usually in 4 different directions. Living with teens, it seems that they have grown accustomed to having something going on during every waking hour. Even when they are home, they are only half here. Physically they are home but they are connected elsewhere...FB, AIM or texting. When AJ does homework, he also has music playing and is texting....distracted and occupied at the same time. Yet, I keep hoping that we strike a balance between being and doing, between meeting the demands of life and pausing long enough to enjoy all that this world has to offer. But we live in a culture and a time that encourages everyone to move faster. I'm learning if I don't take time to slow down, I'll get caught up in it too. I guess that's what I was feeling the other day. For me, if I want to feel more in touch with myself, and not so scattered, I need to slow down. If I want intimacy with my husband, I have to slow down. If I want guarded time with my kids, it requires a slowness. A thoughtful life is not rushed. Maybe that's why I am so intrigued with the Amish.
The days are long gone in my house where I can make my kids take naps. I remember when that wonderful time of day would come around. We would have lunch, get cozy on the couch or their bed and read a story and then get everything dark and it would be nap time! Now, I can't force my kids to slowdown but I can hope that as I slow down and am more deliberate in my life about what's important, maybe my kids, as they grow, will come to appreciate the simple things in life. The things that really matter.
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