Simplifying

Photo by Dave Reed

Life's been busy for us since making a major move this summer.
We're still in the thick of it, while trying to also enjoy each and every summer day.

My theme for the rest of summer will be articles on simplifying life.
I hope they inspire you as they inspire me!

'Stop Running Around & Stay Home', by Allison at Girl Returns Home.com
I've included an excerpt below, but read the article in its entirety here.

Stop Running Around & Stay Home

April 10, 2011

"Stress.  Why are we stressed?

I don’t like it and I don’t want it.

There.

I have had so many women, homeschooling and not, talk about this subject over the years, that I am compelled to discuss it in a little more depth.
We are all attempting to do something (raise a family) that has become more difficult (than it was 200 years ago) because of our indoctrination into the modern culture.  We have many more things pulling on us today, taking our attention away from the child or the home or the husband.  No big surprise there.

It Creeps Up

Aside from major life stresses such as change of work, a move, a death, a divorce – the biggies; we’ve got to remember that the “seemingly” smaller stresses can affect us in profound ways too.  In fact, maybe more so, because they can insidiously creep up on us completely unnoticed.

Why Are We Stressed?

Three biggies come to my mind:
#1 – We are attending to details that maintain our convenience-oriented lifestyles i.e. having to fix any number of modern devices – dishwasher, car, bike, lamp switch, fan, faucet……
When we buy something now, one of my first thoughts is  ”does this item have the potential to break and then require fixing and will it be worth that hassle?”
#2 – We endure the rat race to “get the stuff” we think we have to have (nice house, nice cars, nice furniture, nice clothes, nice measuring cups, nice underwear, etc……….)  OR  we endure it to get out of debt from “getting the stuff.”
I love the line “We spend the first half of our life accumulating things and the last half of our life getting rid of them.”
#3 – Or we are being tempted by the myriad of activities AWAY from the home because we want to make sure little Johnny has an opportunity to try everything so we can see what he is good at…… even though he is only 6.  Ugh.  I’m worn out......"

Finish reading this great article here!