Sunday, October 26, 2008
Captured Thought: It's Not All About You
Lately, I've been really stressed. Between volleyball, schoolwork, church, and homecoming, I've barely been home. I didn't even realize it until a few days ago when my thirteen year old brother said, "Emily, how come I never see you anymore? You're never home." I almost said "I'm always here!", but stopped short. The truth was, I hadn't really seen David in about a week. When I WAS home, I was usually stressed, crabby, doing homework, and talking on the phone trying to figure out homecoming plans. I had been so busy running from activity to activity that I hadn't had time to actually talk to my brother and find out how he was doing. Then, two days later, one of my friends said she missed me and said she felt like we never saw each other anymore. I said I was sorry and that my schedule would be better once volleyball ended this weekend. That made it better with her, but I realized something from talking with her and my brother. What you do doesn't just affect you. It affects all the people involved in your life. Now I know that seems obvious, but it's something I (and probably others) don't always take into account. When I'm eating dinner at someone else's house or out, my family is having dinner without me. They can feel my absence, and are (probably) wishing they could talk with me about my day. When I skip my brother's concert in order to do the homework I could have done over the weekend (but didn't), he knows it and is disappointedI'm not at his concert. When I ask my mom for a ride to somewhere, I forget that she has to drive back home (while I'm already having fun). Her car ride is double the time of mine. I think this thought has been brewing in my mind for a while, but it all became clear when my brother asked me where I have been. The point is, you affect others. It's not all about you and what you want to do. Remember that when you choose to go out for that third night in a row, your family is feeling your absence (again) and is affected. We have to remember that even though all of us are busy (and overscheduled), we have to make sure that our actions don't continue to negatively affect the people who are closest to us. I'm making it a goal this week to say "no" to one thing with my friends and use that time to be with my brother and family. This is because I know that my busy schedule has not only affected me, but has affected the people I love most.
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4 comments:
I have for sure experienced this many times. I hate how I always have too much to do at once and then never have time for anything else, including family. I really think for both you and I, we need to schedule our time more efficiently but I mean we're not robots! It's hard and I want to say I'm with you on this one!
This is really good blog post. I completely understand where you are coming from. I can easily get overwhelmed from school and other activities and my parents ask me why they never see me anymore all the time, but I never really gave it a second thought until now.
Emily-
I really enjoyed reading your blog post because it is something that everybody can relate to, but they may not realize it without somebody pointing it out to them. I was going through the same thing as you during volleyball season and kept complaining that I never had time to do what I wanted. Looking back on that now, I realize how selfish that sounds and that I could have spent my complaining time as conversation time with my family. Things are slowing down now that volleyball and homecoming have passed, but we are all still swamped with homework. I think that the important thing for us to remember is that we should spend the time that we can with our friends and family because ten years from now how we did on one homework assignment won't matter nearly as much as the great memories of the people we love. Great post!
Great look into a different perspective. Balance is key to all aspects of life. Live and learn. :) Perhaps you should consider how a commitment like volleyball or homecoming will affect your free time and family time before committing to them.
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