Fitting work in around life...

Today my husband and I threw our bikes on the back of my car and headed down to Guana Preserve to explore the trails. The second you pull in you know that this is a special place. It's just so beautiful and expansive. When you reach the trails, some no wider than a couple feet, it feels as if you are the only person on the planet- the way I imagine our first explorers felt. As though your eyes are the first to lay claim to these spaces. We traversed through heavy woods, swampy areas, and grassy plains, until we finally reached the river, where I took a nice stroll through the cool water before heading back.

When I visit these places, places that seem so devoid of life, like you're the only one there, but when you listen are actually so full of life, it makes everything else seem so... unnecessary. It makes me wonder, when is enough enough? We keep adding more stuff to our lives. Why? America's version of the successful human is this busy person who is working, going to school, and raising a family all at once. It has come to the point where we feel guilty to take time to ourselves. Or, when we do it has to be labeled as "time to ourselves", instead of what it is- living. Where a bike ride along a path in the woods has to be for exercise or else, why do it? Everything has to lead to a purpose, a goal. What for? I used to stress out thinking about my job if it had no potential for upward movement. In fact the one job that had potential staying power was the one that made me the most miserable I have ever been. Now I am happy to just have a job I like. I go there today. That is all I know. Who cares about tomorrow? We keep stressing for a happier tomorrow, but what about today? Sure, goals can be good. But I'm really worried about this trend of trying to fit life in around work, instead of fitting work in around life.



Life. I pause and say it again aloud- "Life". What is life? Is life just what we do for a "living"?