Survival v. Living

I've been very reflective this past week and one of the conclusions that I have come to is that if we're not careful.... we can spend too much of our time in "survival" mode and not enough time in "living" mode. What's the difference? Do you have every day planned and feel the need to even plan your days off? Do you have to "plan" relaxation time? If you answered yes to any or all of this.... you must be American... because that's our society. We are in constant survival mode. Not healthy.

It is good to plan and be organized, but not about every detail of our lives and not every minute or even every day of our life. I have been thinking this whole time that I have to find balance, but if I'm "planning" balance, is that really balance? I think I can be organized, but I think the real trick is just learning to enjoy life at a slower pace. I need to rev up from time to time, but we always have a million goals and a million projects and it seems a fire is always burning.... but it's not a camp fire. We've had a lot of fun times with our grandkids this summer... some planned... some not. I need to try a day of "nothing" this week to really wind down my last week off before school starts. Funny... I just thought to myself "hmmmm.... what day should I do nothing.... I have this on this day and that on that day...." My point exactly.

So what would a zen day look like? I think it's kind of like the perfect date. Some people will have similar elements as other people, but each person has different needs and different things that relax them. Laying in bed all day is not Zen for me. Watching TV all day.... not zen. A puzzle and some waffles... now we're talking. A drive or quiet picnic (that I did not have to plan).... lunch with a girlfriend.... catching fireflies in a jar with my grandkids.... wait..... I think I will just go with whatever I get the urge to do that day.... I'll have to savor it too because the weeks to follow will have few zen day opportunities with the "project" house we just bought and the new school year starting.

It's not healthy to be in survival mode constantly. You will always have bills. You will always have trials. You will always have a desire to have or do something you can't afford to. You will always feel like you have flaws... and you do. All of this is called life and it's normal. Stop surviving life and start enjoying life. Accept the things that will not change and work on the things you can, but most importantly... take time to smell the waffles, snuggle the babies, and catch the fireflies. It's why we're here.