20,000 and One

When did life become so extreme? I wonder what the parents from “Little House on the Prairie” would say if they lived a day in our shoes. I would imagine they would find much of what we “do” with our time meaningless. I can just picture it now. A mother in 2018 meeting a mother from a small town in the 1870s. Can you visualize it? I might say something like “Hi, Im Danielle. And every time I look at my phone, I get stressed out by the 20,000 and one emails I have.” The prairie mom would of course have some questions. What is an email? And if this smart phone you tell me about is so helpful, why does it bring you so much stress? And what else have you been doing to let that many letters stack up? Once I explain how I’ve been busy working outside of the home, starting a home business, taking the kids to and fro, volunteering at church, scrolling through Facebook, posting stories on Instagram, going to the grocery store and ordering take-out, she’d probably raise an eyebrow or two. I’m sure by now you see what I am alluding to. How much unnecessary stress do we bring to ourselves? How different was life 150 years ago? For food, they had to work for it! For health, they had to find natural ways to stay well and homeopathic methods to treat things. They loved deeply, worked hard and were firmly rooted in family. There were no social media notifications tearing their family dinner apart. There were no phone calls from solicitors. They didn’t spend hours on their iPhones watching everyone else’s lives go by, whilst missing out on their own.

Did you know that we in the United States are among the most privileged in the world, overall? We have everything at our fingertips, yet complain. We can worship freely, travel easily, wear what we want, marry who we choose. We have fresh water to drink and food available on every corner. We have super overpriced vehicles and oversized homes. What if we slow down? What if we take some time to learn from that little house on the prairie? Do we really need that fifth handbag or 10th pair of running shoes? Do our children need an electronic in their hand from a young age? Do we? Wow, writing this post sure is humbling me. Its opening my eyes to the undue stress I have been placing on myself and my family. We get so caught up in the 20,000 and one emails, and the race to something better, we forget to cherish what we do have. Residents of the United States have a shorter life expectancy, as well as a lower quality of life, than the residents of many of the world’s other developed nations. Can we learn from others? Take some pointers and make some room for change? The research is blaring- our dependency on technology is making us ill, stressing us out, and straining families. Take a stand for your family. Take a “tech time-out” and just experience the happiness and rejuvenation you’ll surely feel. Slow down, power off, look up, and embrace the reality you’re in. I promise you won’t regret it.