We just have to get past this week
We just have to get past this week, and then next week it will slow down.
This is the lie we tell ourselves, and Sam and I laugh and laugh every time we say it out loud.
We say this lie more and more during the holiday season. In the words of my father-in-law, “It all starts with the carving of the pumpkins…” As much as I chuckle every time I hear it, he’s right. As soon as we visit our first pumpkin patch - of if you’re like us you head to Michael’s for the wooden pumpkins - it’s a mad dash to New Year’s Day. School parties, neighborhood parties, family parties, Nutcracker performances, school plays, presents, house cleaning, house chaos, travel, and we’re not even a family that has sports on top of all of this.
And if you’re working in an office - we can’t forget the ‘let’s get all of these meetings in before the 15th’ push - and then you get a tiny break before “circle back season” begins.
YIKES!
Last night, while driving with our oldest daughter to tour a new school after work meetings, Nutcracker practice, more work deadlines, addressing Christmas Cards, etc. Sam and I made this joke. “We just have to get through this week.”
Then, because bad jokes only get funnier when you explain them to teenagers, we started explaining joke to our 13 year old. “Well you see… when you’re an adult, you’re always busy and you always lie to yourself that next week will be better. Isn’t that hysterical?” This is when our 13-year-old rightfully gave us the Gen Z stare.
And watching her stare, it hit me. You know, we don’t HAVE to be busy. We could bed rot on the weekends. We could work, come home, and do nothing. Our kids don’t HAVE to do karate and D&D. But Sam and I are passionate about using our talents, sharing our skills with others, and building up an generation of kids who are tech savvy but never tech dependent. And if you’re reading this, I would bet $100 that you feel the same.
So, the next time, you’re feeling overwhelmed and you’re just trying to “get through this week.” Say to yourself, “I’m busy because I’m making the world a better place.” And then crash out on the couch by 9PM, face unwashed and dishes in the sink, before getting up to do it all over again.
