Detoxification of a Busy Bragger

Cristy

Camping 2016

I want to change the paradigm shift. I will no longer be a Busy Bragger conforming to the new societal norm where busyness is worn like a badge of honor. I'm as guilty as the next person..”I'm so busy, I just don't have time!” I'm changing my ways. I'm becoming a Free-Time Bragger!

Haters gonna hate, but I love my free time! I am blessed with a life where I get a choice in having to work or stay home. My husband and I made the decision when we were planning our pregnancy that one of us would stay home with our children (well, we stopped at one!). Now, before you roll your eyes, know that this was a very difficult decision. We made $19,000 the first year of my son's life! That's it...for the whole year! We made it work. And thankfully we've always made it work, through hard work, dedication, wise decisions, and my super savvy money skillz! I've had part-time jobs here and there...made some extra money, added some new skills. I would love a second income! I could work...we continually question what we want out of life and it always comes back to not changing the dynamic of our family that we have worked hard for.

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Fall Fest MTB Race 2016

You want to hear something crazy?! After WWII, economists and politicians predicted that by 1990, Americans would work 22 hours a week, six months a year, and retire before age 40! Yes, please! “While accepting the Republican Party's nomination for president in 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower envisioned a world where, 'leisure...will be abundant, so that all can develop the life of spirit, of reflection, of religion, of the arts, of the full realization of the good things of the world.*” Doesn't that sound amazing?! Where have we gone wrong?!?! Life has gotten more expensive than they predicted and wages have fallen. But it still comes down to a choice, right? I'm choosing to accept that I will have busy days and those days come often, but I am also choosing to not allow those days to be my focus. I'm focusing on free time...leisure activities, time with my family, enjoying the things that I love.

If you're looking for another reason to not be so busy consider the fact that neuroscientists have studied the brain during super busy times versus times of idleness. They have discovered that during idle times our brains are more productive!! You know those "aha" points of brilliance in the moments you least expect—when you’re not focused on something in particular—in the middle of the night, in the shower, when you’re relaxing outside. Ahh, you know what I'm saying, right?! Who hasn't had their most brilliant ideas in the shower?!

There are the times I hear the more often than needed comment, “I could never stay home all day; I would be so bored.” I feel sad for the person who can not find things to enjoy in their FREE time.  I won't go into the details of my day and the busyness of it because I am detoxing my Busy Bragger ways! Instead, let me tell you about how I get to go outside everyday! I go for long hikes and bike rides! I play games with my son. I read books...whole books...long books...for fun! I make time to do the things that bring me joy because life is short and fast. I know I will not look back on my life and wish that I would had filled my day with things I didn't want to do so that I could “stay busy”. I will look back and be so grateful and filled with joy by those memories I made in my free time. So, I'm going to put more energy into focusing on my free time. I'm going to spend a little more time bragging about my free time...please, bear with me, it's part of the detoxification process.

Peace, Love, Plants,
Cristy

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*https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-being-too-busy-makes-us-feel-so-good/2014/03/14/c098f6c8-9e81-11e3-a050-dc3322a94fa7_story.html