May 2008 Newsletter

May News...ratrace

We have become the "rat race" we used to joke about. It's not funny anymore. We are so over stimulated and overloaded that we don’t have time to read about, think about, research or respond to all that comes our way each and every day. Like this advertisement I received in the mail:

15 minutes of your time
could save you 15% on your car insurance!
What are you waiting for?

I threw it in the trash. Didn’t even open it. You've done the same thing... many times. Or you add it to that huge pile that you're going to sort through later, but never do. I could have saved 15% on my insurance, but I didn't have fifteen minutes to consider the options. My time is more valuable. In fact, time is the most valuable commodity we have today. Yet no matter how many time-saving devices we invent, we never seem to have enough time. There is always more to do. We can't keep up, let alone get ahead. Everyone's spinning out of control. We feel dizzybusy.

our lives have become dizzybusy for three reasons:

1. our culture expects us to be good at everything
The 20th century was all about achievement, recognition, wealth and material signs of success. Now we live in a world that judges us by what we accomplish, not by who we are. We want it all. We want to be good parents, good spouses, a good sister, a good son, and a good friend - all while we excel at work, volunteer at school, sing in the church choir, maintain a beautiful home and coach the soccer team to the championships. It's not possible.

2. technology creates more things for us to do
Technology has become an addiction. We feel compelled to continually check emails, immediately respond to text messages and click on anything that pops up to grab our attention. We feel guilty if we don't read the newspaper or the magazines that stack up around the house. We're afraid we might miss something we "need." Laptops, blackberries and cell phones come with us on vacations so we can stay plugged into the rat race we left home to avoid.

3. we have too many choices, too many possibilities
I went to the grocery store to pick up a pain reliever and I couldn’t believe the choices: 93 to be exact: different brands, strengths, shapes, ailments, and quantities. I found 147 types of toothpaste, 196 shampoos and - you won’t believe this - 310 deodorants. It's crazy! It takes five minutes to find your favorite, or ten minutes to decide "which one is right for me?"

is it any wonder
we are overwhelmed?

This is a sneak peak at Lorle's upcoming book, due out this summer - happyhome: a family's guide to finding balance in a dizzybusy world. It gives us a simple plan – the five happyhome habits – as well as five fun and practical tools to make it easy to weave those healthy habits into our family life right away.

Watch for next month's happyhome news when Lorle shares what the dizzybusy lifestyle is doing to our kids.

What can you do right now to find balance in the midst of the ratrace we live in? You will find lots of help on our happyhome club online home page. Read about how you can create a joyful attitude at home in just minutes a day at the dinner table. Check out the five happyhome habit activities we have created for you this month. And if you are looking for any simple, meaningful traditions for Weddings, you will find them in our tradition library.