Shoulds

There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. -French proverb

Often time’s people are so busy multi-tasking that each item on the to-do list gets only a few moments of attention. Running here and accommodating over there can frazzle even the most organized person. Parents spend weekends being coaches, chauffeurs, cheerleaders, cooks, and maids. Going from the moment their feet hit the ground and only stopping when exhaustion sets in long enough for them to fall asleep. Exhaustion waits for us to lie in bed and ruminate over the day’s activities as well as worry about the day to come. Mothers and fathers are endlessly worried that they aren’t doing enough. Somehow they believe that they weren’t good enough, patient enough, caring enough.

The truth is that they probably weren’t. Multi-tasking ensures that a group of things get done without any guarantee of them being done well. Life is so filled up with the next thing on the agenda that people often don’t even experience the last thing. The feeling it leaves behind is a vague restlessness of the mind. Leaving people worried that they lost their keys or their phone only to find them right where they left them. That restlessness is because of all the frayed loose ends that continue to hang in our subconscious. The boys’ basketball game that was missed because of the ballet lessons. The drive thru dinner that was bought because there wasn’t time to go to the store or the energy to make something at home that plays with our guilty conscious or the yelling match over laundry because of short tempers caused by a long day.

Our society is filled with people who “should” all over themselves. I should’ve done this. I should’ve done that. I should’ve should’ve should’ve….and the list continues on. “Should” makes for a terrible pillow. Who do those shoulds belong to anyway? How important are they? Do they really exist? Slowing down and doing less is a sure fire way to enjoy life so much more. Those to-do lists are tackled one item at a time when the time is right and each element will get the attention, the care and concern, it deserves. Living life at a slower place SHOULD definitely help you sleep better at night.