boredOne of the biggest things my family has battled with is the busyness of American culture. Nearly everyone I talk to agrees that America has a broken mentality of being too busy too often, leaving no time for the things that matter most:  family, friends, peace & quiet.  Instead, we sign up for too many programs, work too many hours, shuttle our kids from one place to another, work too much at church or other volunteer organizations, or just plain watch too much TV.  If everyone agrees, why is no one rejecting the lifestyle?

In my family we’ve made rejection of this a priority.  We try and keep work to a minimum.  We don’t over-commit (which means we often under commit) to ministry work.  We don’t sign our child up to do, well, anything. We don’t go out very often and we are getting good at saying ‘no’ when too many options present themselves on the weekend.  Doing all of this has been a great improvement in our lives.  We feel less hurried and we end up spending a crazy amount of time together as a family.  When an opportunity comes up to see friends, to help out with a project that is a good cause, or to just go play at a park we almost always have time.  Friends could call on a moments notice to hang out or to ask for help and we’re here just waiting.

But this is where the problem begins to surface  We’ve learned that making time in life for relationships, family, and friendships is the right path, it’s an awesome step in the right direction.  However, if no one else takes that step with you…it’s lonely and, quite frankly, boring.

You see, now we’ve got all the time carved out and, well, we don’t know what to do.  We sit around the house basically staring at each other because, while family time is awesome, eventually you want to connect with other families (be it friends or extended family of your own).  And, if none of them have the same vision you’re left sitting on the sofa hoping that someone will call.

So, this entry was born in frustration that we’ve made the step to build relationships, we’ve cut things out of our lives to make time…and no one else seems to be willing to put their money where their mouths are.  Why not?

I love my friends.  I love my family.  I understand that everyone isn’t on the same life journey as we are.  But it would be awesome if more people started taking time out of their lives like they say they want to. Everyone says they’re too busy, but no one actually does anything about it.

Sure, it’s a selfish request, but here’s my encouragement.  Stop complaining about being too busy and take some actual steps to simplifying your life.  If enough people actually start living this way, we won’t be so bored.  Now go out there and learn to say “no” more often!! ;)