There Is More To Life...

There certainly is.

I am struck by how often I see the memes on facebook, overflowing with sentiments about how life "used to be". They are posted with melancholy, and facebook commenters are quick to add a plethora of other pleasures from simpler times that we have left behind in this fast paced world.

I hesitate to comment on these posts myself, because I don't want to be "that lady" who always has a contrary perspective. But there are, in fact, occasions when I do feel alone in my perspective. Well, alone WITH my family. I do comment, not because I want to flaunt our different path, but because I sooooo want people to understand that having those simple joys is not only possible, but... well.... simple! It's all about choice. My husband and I intentionally choose not to have our children busy 24/7. They are all involved in activities, but not to the ultimate expense of our family time. We have the occasional insanely busy week or weekend, as all families do. But, in general, we have a lot of down time to just BE together. We eat dinner together. We read together. We watch movies together. We go on hikes together. We play together, have backyard fires together, laugh together,  and pray together at bedtime each night. We enjoy board games. We cook and bake. We make crafts. We make messes. We clean together.

We do our best to nurture one another's dreams and interests. We explore the world. We share memories, and make new ones.

There is plenty of room in life to work, play and rest. We don't watch much television. Our kids aren't exposed to very many commercials, and as a result are not very interested in name brands/labels, etc. They do have some electronic devices and video game systems, but they also have time limits, and plenty of non-electronics to keep them busy. There is no pressure to always have the latest gadgets or go to all of the "in" places. We like to travel the less beaten path, and explore at our own pace.

Time does not stand still. The world keeps on spinning. But we just do our best to live in the moment, and appreciate each one for the precious gift that it is. Drive-Ins still exist. Dinners still get made from scratch. Kids still swing on swing sets , play hide and seek, and make mud pies. People still read paper books. That world has not gone away. It's just that most people in our culture are too busy to see it. And that is such a shame. Because, "There IS so much more to life than increasing its speed."