I remember twenty years ago it seems the world moved slower. Is it our Starbuck’s induce caffeine high that is got us all wound up and running everywhere we go or is it me turning 40 this year? It seems like the whole world around me is running towards the entrance to the shopping mall of life, all chanting “open, open, open” like that woman on the old Mervyn’s commercials.
Last week I was helping a customer who was exhibiting at the Dew action Sports Tour, and being the BMX enthusiast, I took in a few of the events. First off, it seems the tour is a BIG hit among 11 and 12 year old boys and girls. Just mention the name of Ryan Sheckler and the girls in your vicinity scream like Ryan was one of the band members of the Beetles.
At the Dew event, every one was running from one place to another, hardly taking any time to talk with the exhibitors or even each other. Heck, when Cameron did his 360 Back flip, I called my wife to talk about it, I patted the back of the strangers sitting next to me. Excitement was in the air and I had to talk to witnesses as if to try and experience it again through there eyes. Of course, my wife’s response was the normal response, “that’s nice.”
I wrote about leaving room for the big stuff. The sands of life will fill in every nook and cranny if you let it, so you’ve got to put those big, important things in place before the space (and time) is eaten by the big hairy life monster.
In the spirit of “adding the big stuff first”, last Wednesday I told my wife, while she was in the haze of morning, “we are going to the movies today.”
She asked, “don’t you have work to do today?”
“Yes, but I want to spend time with you”, I responded.
The movie was silly, Tropic Thunder, but the moments together during the middle of a work day were priceless. Take that Visa!
We all have VERY busy schedules. The kids are starting back to school, the economy is doing strange things and making consumers a bit uneasy. Our political system seems to be taking over the television networks and everyone in the country is worried their political believes might offend someone. These are times when it is easy to put off planning something memorable. It is safer to NOT go to the coast this weekend because the kids are starting school. Wrong! It is never safer to withdraw from being with your family, alone, on a mini vacation.
The hardest part of getting away is planning. Men, we really suck at sitting down and planning with our wives. Knowing this is more than half the battle. Take time, sit you wife down (maybe to a nice dinner out) and say, “I want to go camping.” Be prepared for objections and don’t settle on “not now.” Set a date, even if it is a month or two out, setting a date for taking a mini vacation gets the family time juices flowing and before long everyone will be focused more on the trip and less on the daily stresses of life.