I was talking to another woman the other day about women’s busy lives. She mentioned that today’s woman has so many choices but also has a life. It is no longer just a home life or just a work life. It is both with fitness pursuits, dream goals, full-time friendships and more. Yet, there is still only 24 hours in a day. These lives are full. Very, very full. It made me think-
Are our lives eating us alive?
The media blitz and pitches for Disconnecting to Reconnect on Father’s Day was just another thread that seems to be pointing to yes. I love that I have a busy life. I thoroughly enjoy working out, running and all my friendships. I can’t maintain them like I used to and I don’t view myself as a stay-at-home mom anymore. The fence I was bordering of work-at-home and stay-at-home now seems to have toppled over and I am fully on the work-at-home side. To me, that is something to be proud of because it means I have grown my writing and consulting business to a degree that goes beyond a few projects here or there. It doesn’t jive with my ideas of spending more time with the kids or why I stopped working full-time outside the home though. The old system of having groceries delivered, household supplies mail ordered and someone taking care of our dog and kid was one of the reasons I stopped working full-time. I felt someone was doing my life for me. There was no balance.
When I wrote Determined to Rest a few days ago it was with the intent of giving myself the summer off. Well, not completely, I do have bills to pay and summer camps to feed, but to do less behind the computer screen and more in front of my kids. To enjoy times with my girlfriends more and tone down the “connected” feeling I have to my phone and other gadgets in my house. I need to cleanse my mind and body as well as my home on a regular basis. At first it was like a mini-vacation that I was reveling in. Yesterday, withdrawal set in. I started to panic about my lack of work on the horizon. That Scarlett O’Hara syndrome that is akin to an obsessive compulsive squirrel storing up for a dozen winters at one time set in. I felt like I my “to-do” list was getting bigger and I was going back to my old connected ways.
It is harder to stay focused and I wonder if it is because I am so used to be pulled in a million directions all day, every day. Work Vicky, Wife Vicky, Mommy, Friend. All at once in a ten minute span. Yes, my life is eating me alive. This needs to be continued.
Discuss amongst the comments. I want to hear from others who feel like their life might be eating them alive too.
