How Your ‘Too Busy’ Lifestyle Is Actually Ruining Your Life

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We’re all busy. Between work, school, our families, our love lives, and our social life, we’re caught up. We swear one day we’ll settle down and relax, take time to finally stop and smell those flowers outside the corner store on the way to work, take the dog down to that lake that Grandpa always talks about, pick up that guitar that’s been collecting dust in the closet, you know, actually slow down and start living. Not this week though because this week is hectic, but you know, next week. We all know next week becomes next month and next month is put off to “maybe this summer”. I’m writing to you, my friend, to encourage you to stop and smell the flowers, to slow down a bit, to not live the same year 75 times and call it a life.

Let’s face it, money is important and unfortunately, not having a lot of it tends to make life more difficult. The other day after a long hard day of work, I sat down on my couch and glanced over at a dollar bill that was sitting on the coffee table. I couldn’t help but feel angry that a single piece of paper had so much power and control over the lives of every single human being on the planet, including myself. That piece of paper was the reason I had to work last Thanksgiving, it was why I had to miss my best friend’s birthday, my family barbeque, and countless Sunday football. Part of me wanted to rip the stupid piece of paper up, but then I thought to myself, eh, I’ll wash my car with it next week.

I understand most of us don’t want to work as much as we do; we do it because we have to. We do it for our families, so they can have more than we ever did. I’m not saying go out and quit your job tomorrow. I’m just saying don’t ever get too busy to call your mom and tell her you love her. Don’t be too busy to notice that she changed her hairstyle, or that your dads been smoking more than usual, or that the dogs birthday passed and nobody remembered.

Free yourself from your chaotic schedule from time to time and just notice things, appreciate more, look at the world through wider eyes.

Be no stranger to hard work, hard work builds character, but do not allow yourself to be a slave to money until you die. My Aunt once told me, “People first, then money, then things.” Please remember to enjoy yourself, to stop and smell the flowers, to pick up your guitar once and a while, to imagine and create, most importantly, to make time. Make time for things other than money. Make time for people, for the ones you love and for the ones you have yet to know. People first, always.