New Year, Slower Pace

I'm not really one to make New Year's Resolutions. Not sure why... maybe I don't like all the hype surrounding them... or people waiting for you to fail at them. Whatever the reason, I did decide to set a few goals for myself this year - a couple of them spiritual - and one in particular, is a goal to change the way our family has been living. No, I'm not going to start eating some complicated diet, or begin training for triathlons...quite the opposite really.

My goal is to live this year in a slower pace.

I realize this is quite opposite of what our society believes these days, so I know I will be going against the grain. But I've noticed that once I learned how to say "no" to things, life got easier...calmer...more focused...happier.

Last year, we had an activity almost every single day. Whether it was baseball, bible study, Cub Scouts, or several other really good things, we were running around all. the. time. And I noticed that I was impatient with the kids, snapped at Brian a lot, unhappy with the amount of quality time we were spending together in the evenings, and generally just didn't experience "contentment."

So, we gave up baseball. We've changed our bible study schedule. I decided against an after-school program. All good things mind you, but we just had to come up with a different way of doing things.

One of my favorite bloggers, Sarah, from Clover Lane, recently blogged about this same topic. She said:

"I am a much much better mother to my children when I say no to the crazy pace of the world, no to all the noise that seeps into my brain from the technology that has a way of sucking us all in-and yes to slower days, yes to less outside commitments, yes to less stuff in our home, yes to being present.  Being present means being aware-not someplace else in my brain, not being distracted by a phone or an email, or doing too many things at once, or thinking about what I need to do or say next." 

When I read this, I felt vindicated! I felt like saying, "YES! Someone else agrees with me!"  

I'm sure it has something to do with wanting to be organized and keep a clean house and cook meals for my family every night (all things Sarah from Clover Lane focuses on too). If you want to do all of those things well, then you have to cut out some other "stuff." Even if it's really good stuff. It's okay to say no to really good stuff, if your saying "yes" to being a better, more focused, mom. I truly believe that.

So while I won't be volunteering on the PTA this year, or organizing a 20+ children's birthday party for my boys, or even attending all of the wonderful events put on by my church... I will be doing purposeful, meaningful things that fit into our family schedule and do not cause stress, chaos or disorganization.

I guess I sort of did make a New Year's Resolution after all, eh?