Racing the Pace

Audio By Carbonatix

There’s something that I believe is really harming many young families. It can certainly affect all of us, but I think the impact is especially felt by families with younger kids. Here’s what I see happening: Pace of life has quickened compared to what it was when I was raising my kids. Parents of young kids today have to go more, do more, accomplish more, and take your kids to more places than I did. Now, I am fully aware that people slow down as we age. I’m in my 60s, so I obviously don’t have the energy I had when I was 30, but I don’t think that alone explains my observations.

I truly feel that the pace for younger families has picked up considerably, and I’m not sure it’s sustainable. I’d love to encourage everybody reading this to do a little check-in for yourself. Is your current pace something that is truly sustainable? Is it something that is going to benefit you and your family in the long run? It really is true that sometimes less is more, and I hope that you feel the freedom to trim some things out of the schedule if life is feeling a bit too overwhelming or crowded these days.

I might be a surprising messenger for this idea, because I’m a really “on the go” kind of guy. If I don’t have at least one errand to run every day, I start to go stir crazy. Yet I just can’t help but notice that families these days are often busy to the point of it being an issue that keeps them from being able to rest and to enjoy being together. I understand that sports and lessons and jobs are important for kids. My kids did all of those things too. But not at the amped-up level that these things are happening today. Travel sports keep lots of families out of town many weekends, often with some of the family members traveling out of town for the tournament while the rest of the family stays home or spends the weekends with friends.

I don’t have anything against travel sports. But if traveling for a tournament is pushing your family to a pace beyond what is sustainable, then it might be time to rethink some things. Essentially, I want to remind everybody to make sure that you set a pace that you can keep up with. If your family is so busy that you notice yourselves getting sick very frequently, that’s a good indication that you’re getting run down from an unsustainable pace. If you look at your schedule for the next two weeks and you feel overwhelmed or numb, that’s another good sign that things are out of alignment and that you might be headed toward burnout.

I want to encourage you to find a pace that helps you avoid getting run down or burned out. A pace that allows you to enjoy life rather than one that leaves you needing to power through it. I know that different people and different families operate naturally at different paces. And I’m not trying to tell you what you and your family should be doing. My hope is that each family will take the time to evaluate their own situation and their own needs when it comes to pace. When you find a pace that fits your family, it will help you all to win more often at home!