less is more-1

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Does anyone else feel like they’re living in the video game Frogger?  Everything is just zooming by you and all you want to do is get across the road unscathed? 

Literally, we are all speeding, driving out of control, watching our phone screens instead of the road, and on edge.  We just wait for someone to pull out ahead of so we can ride their bumper out of spite.  We are so far into this, if someone tries to pass us, well; we’ll just speed up and show them who’s in charge.  The other day, I pulled too far out from the stop sign to see if the intersection was clear and I thought a lady’s eyes were going to burn a hole through me.  As she turned and I pulled off, I had a moment of clarity.  This isn’t just driving.  This is life.  

We are all living at warp speed.  “Get the most out of every moment.”  Enroll our kids in every sport possible so they can have the "fullest experience possible."  So we can stress out about getting them there as they cry on the way because they’re three and practice is at 7 at night and they’re tired because they missed their nap because they had piano.  Wake up at 4:30 to work out to shower to go to work to pay for daycare to get home to make dinner to spend two hours with your kids before you put them bed.   Sometimes I think we’re living our lives at warp speed because we want to enjoy every single minute and in doing so we aren’t enjoying it at all. We're skiing across the top of the ocean, but we never dive down and see what's in the depths.  Ya know, where all the life is?

Why are we all racing each other? To win what?  Most miles driven in a week? The biggest house payment? The most time spent away from that house that you’re paying the most for?  It’s madness and I’m going mad. And getting mad.

Sometimes I just want to scream SLOW THE EFF DOWN! To myself. To my coworkers. To the mom, just like me, at Wal-Mart in her professional dress with her children who just came from daycare, who is in too much of rush to slow down to even notice the elderly person that needs help getting something off the top shelf. To the lady who glared at me while driving (literally to her, though).  

When do you call it?  When do I say enough is enough and stop sacrificing my precious people at the altar of comparison?

It’s time to pare down, people.  To figure out what and who are most important in our lives and focus in on them.  Not what we can have next, but how we can help more. Not what our next purchase is, but what we can give more of.  I’m not speaking for you, but the pendulum is swinging back in the Aragonlife.  We are sick and tired of running a race where everyone loses.  Our children will not have resumes full of activities and lessons while we strive to win this godforsaken contest.  

More (or less) to come…