Friday, April 25, 2008

Little bit lost

A friend wondered the other day if I was going through some sort of mid-life crisis. I didn't really have an answer for her. Doesn't it seem like we all are having some sort of crisis these days?

I'm fed up with the rat race of what defines a typical grown-up life. I don't want to always be questing for more of what I don't need and not having enough time for what it is that I do need. I refuse to accept that this worry, this fear, this boredom is all that there is. Life is not decades of anxiety, even though the newspapers and the magazines and the television and my neighbors tell me it is. Being an adult shouldn't be the death of fun, of joy, of hope. As my husband says, "It's shouldn't be such a struggle."

And so this family has decided to take a stand. We are not sure exactly where we are going, but our hearts are the best compasses we are given in this world. What we are choosing is to participate in this one life we are blessed with, instead of watching it fly past us as if it were the blurry home video of someone else we hope we will never be. We have lived through the mistakes of our parents and their parents before them, and we are choosing to learn from them.

We are throwing away the box.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You go Mama!

Anonymous said...

Lynda - I can relate - just wait til kids are in school - your decisions are based on the test scores at your school, xtra curricular opportunities (t-ball, soccer) We even chose the girls preschool because we were impressed with their public speaking courses (yes for 3 and 4 year olds). We knew some people that the husband quit his job as an electrician, the wife homeschooled - they SOLD their house, bought a motorhome and went on the road with their 15, 11 and 6year old for more than a year!!!! We lost track of them but I feel sure their kids are turning out just fine. If we could just split the difference - be just half as wild. No 1/4 as wild - quit agonizing over ever dang thing and just LIVE while we have the chance. Hmmmm . . . back to work, school, softball etc tomorrow. Hope other than the mid-life (1/3rd life crises for you girl) that things are going well. Carol