Don't forget to take time to chillax and watch the sunset once in a while. Remember to take the time to enjoy your life and your family. It's not all about connecting the dots.

I’ve been living my life for the last six weeks like I was the pen in some manic dot-to-dot work sheet.  As soon as I get one dot connected, it’s immediately time to move to the next.  This is NOT the way I want to live.

Living life in a hurry forces you to skip all the little moments that make it all more worthwhile.

All the things I’ve been doing have been important to me and have been good things to be involved in doing.  There have just been too many of them.  My brain is too full.  I’m yelling too much as we hurry out the door and I keep forgetting things.

The straw that broke the camel’s back happened yesterday when I found myself zooming across town to retrieve my daughter’s hair accessory I’d forgotten for her dance class picture.  I had thought about grabbing it earlier in the afternoon, but didn’t because I was frantically busy preparing for my next items on the schedule.

When I got to the photo shoot and realized my daughter was the only one there without it, I jumped back in the van threw my four-year-old back in and raced across town.  I was not a sane person at this point or a good driver.  I did realize that it simply wasn’t worth it, but I felt absolutely compelled to connect these dots.

I returned to the studio with hair accessory in hand just as they were wrapping up the group photos.  I think she might have been wearing it in the last 3 of 30 photos.

I felt like an idiot for forgetting it and even more like an idiot for my mad dash across town.  I wish I could tell you this was the only time this has happened in the last six weeks, but it isn’t.

I am just really glad that I don’t have an infant right now.  Otherwise I might end up being the person who unknowingly left the child in the hot car after being so busy or absent minded.  I always wondered how this happened.  How could anyone forget their baby?  I think life just taught me how it was possible.  When you’re busy, busy, busy, bad things can happen.

Here’s the solution portion.  I met Dani Lassiter this week for the first time.  If you don’t know her, she is the organizer and producer of events like, The Goldilocks Bike Ride, Oh Sweet Sadie Art and Gift Show, TriathaMOM and various other amazing things to do.  She’s my hero.  I think I might have a big girl crush on her.

I overheard her talking to one of the organizers of Breathing Space Blogger Retreat held last weekend at Daybreak.  I listened as she apologized for pulling out of the Breathing Space Retreat.  She explained that she had a realization that she would be too busy and too overscheduled to accomplish this task.  She left the others to finish up and put on the event.  And the rest of the organizers did a great job without her.

Have you ever felt like you were the only one who could do a certain job?  Or, that you HAD to do something because you said you would and people were counting on you?  It’s okay to change your mind.  That’s what I learned from over hearing this conversation.

I can think of about 15 things I have planned or participated in over the last week where I should have said.  Hey…I’m too busy, I can’t do this.  And the rest world probably would have managed fine without me.

I hope this makes you think about what you’re doing if you’re overscheduled and gives you permission to bow out if it’s too much for you to do, or too much for your family to live through.  We don’t have to live like this.  We do have a choice. Don’t be like me putting lives in danger over a dance class hair accessory.  It simply isn’t worth it.

Please excuse any typos you’ve seen in this post.  I’ve been busy.

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