First, there was too much activity. Not everything can be avoided. Sometimes trips have to be made, kids need to
be rescued, and that haircut has to happen.
However, as I stressed in Someone Stole My Time, it doesn’t take much to
suck the hours out of a day. It’s even
tougher if you’re trying to make a go of something while still working a forty
hour week. Family demands time and you
want to hang out with your friends.
There’s that trip you want to take and there are always meetings. If you have children, then you have to add in
their activities, as well. The
eight-year old just joined Girl Scouts and, although they meet for an hour and
a half every other week, they do something every weekend. In the spring she will be in soccer and that
just gets added to the schedule of activities.
Of course, all of that gets put
on top of the normal stuff, such as grocery shopping, car maintenance, and that
honey-do-list around the house that just seems to get longer and longer. I still haven’t hung up the pictures on our
back porch that the girls wanted me to last month. Furthermore, it doesn’t help that we’re
naturally social people and not just going out bar-hopping type of social. No, we love to entertain at the house with
costume parties and cookouts, pool parties and wine tasting events. Pretty soon, I’m too tired to even think
about lifting my pen.
Another on the too much list is the amount of money we
waste, and I do mean waste. This, in
part, coincides with the too-much-activity, because most of what we do requires
some amount of cash, even if it’s a cookout at the house. Of course, right now it’s the holiday season
and I’m snatching up Halloween and Christmas decorations, because, well, I’m
addicted to the holidays. It’s almost as
bad as my writing supply habit. Of
course, each of the girls has their own must-have and soon the surplus cash we
thought we had is a negative and we wonder where it all went.
Part of the answer can be
discovered in the cabinets and garage.
We have way too much
stuff. This was made quite apparent last
month when we moved Sarah and Dylan in.
We had to have a garage sale and still even had to donate a bunch of
things to a thrift store before we had room for their possessions, which also
had to be weeded through. However, the
holiday decorations were untouched.
There is, after all, a limit to what I will do without. Too much stuff means clutter. It requires time to maintain and even if it’s
a cute knick knack it will have to be dusted.
That adds to your reduction of time and cleaning activity is still
activity. The more time you have to
devote to maintaining your stuff, the less time you will have to devote to your
dream.
How bad do you want to see that
vision of yours come true? How bad do
you want to be an artist or a musician, start your own business or just finish
school? If you want it bad enough, then
it has to be a priority. The best way to
do that is to simplify everything else in your life; at least until you get
yourself established. That means you
have to cut back on the Too Much part
of your life. Say no to some of those
activities. Control your wasteful
spending so that the capital is available for your venture without stressing
you out in other areas, such as car payments or mortgage. Furthermore, stop accumulating things unless
you absolutely need them. This will free
up time, space, and money. Soon, you’ll
be able to focus more on making your dream a reality rather than simply
surviving your current reality.
None of those things are
necessarily terrible. However, too much
of a good thing can turn it into a bad thing, and if these excesses are
hindering you from fulfilling your dreams, then they are more than bad; they’re
deadly. Don’t kill your dream by
allowing Too Much to happen beyond
your control. Simplify your life and
gain the freedom to succeed.
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