Pendulums and Parenting

Hey, finally back to it. And yes, I think you're definately on to something here in regards to the impression that parenting leaves upon us that enables us to live our lives in some form of balance. I think that my life has been greatly impacted by the fact that I grew up with parents who stuck it out through thick and thin and who never walked those painful halls of divorce. I also credit them with instilling within me an appreciation for hard work as well as for enjoying the little things in life. These have all helped to make me the person I am.

Yet, there are always down sides too. My Dad is what we might call a recovering workaholic so that's something that I've almost sprung away from. I value hard work and work hard when I'm at it but am also deathly afraid of working to a point that my family is hindered, hurt, or left behind. This is good but also keeps me fearful of moving toward some decisions. Another aspect of my parentage was that my parents have never been ridiculously affectionate people toward one another. They share a kiss here and there, hugs too, but I don't know, it was just never whatever. Plus, leisure such as vacations and going here and there and trying new stuff, not really on the menu. Those things seem to be simple but they've definately worked toward influencing this part of my life.

But yeah. I totally agree that the influence of our parents has a huge effect on how we balance our lives. But I do believe that the decision is ultimately ours. There are learned behaviors but we also have a sense of right and wrong, a sense of will that is deep within us. Our bodies are pretty amazing and do a damn good job of communicating to us when things are wrong. This also applies to areas of balance. When we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, we usually are. We need to learn to listen.

Just as a side note here too, since our conversation tends to touch on faith more often than not, it's pretty interesting that the Christian tradition deals with the idea of rest in a pretty dramatic fashion. God himself set the standard of resting and commands us to do the same. Yet our "go get 'em" American mentality lives in this mindset that has us pushing the limits, trying to fit all that we can in at the cost of our health, our finances, and more. We need to learn to stop and, dare I say it, smell the roses. We may cram in every experience that we possibly can but we're hurting ourselves more if we don't allow the time to experience and really "be in" that moment. Does that make sense?