| Our Lord inspired me to write this article to | | | | do save labor . . . they may even make life a |
| offer practical ways to let off steam without | | | | lot harder by virtue of the fact that we are |
| adverse effects. | | | | required to take care of the devices we use |
| | | | to "save" time! |
| Oddly, one of the first things that came to | | | | |
| me was to eliminate any feeling that some of | | | | As an example, take the dishwasher. Unless |
| us might have to feel pressured to be "in | | | | you have a large family or entertain a lot, I |
| style." Think about it. Most of the time, | | | | would suggest that you wash your dishes by |
| being "in style" causes people to look | | | | hand as you go along. Otherwise, most of your |
| ridiculous. | | | | dishes end up in the dishwasher, either clean |
| | | | or dirty, when you want them. And it takes a |
| I mean it causes older people trying to look | | | | lot of time to load and unload the thing. |
| young again to become laughingstocks. It | | | | Plus, unless you practically wash them to |
| causes younger people a lot of mental and | | | | begin with, they rarely all get clean. Why |
| financial pressure trying to maintain | | | | not just simplify this small task, not let |
| stylishness. And it causes overweight people | | | | them build up, and if you use a natural soap, |
| to look even more so! | | | | your hands will benefit as well. |
| | | | |
| Years ago I also was caught in this same web. | | | | Next, if you have young children, don't run |
| One year the hemlines were around the ankle, | | | | yourself ragged trying to juggle impossible |
| the next around mid-thigh. I was a single | | | | schedules of running from game to game to |
| mother, and funds were tight, to say the | | | | dance lessons to music lessons to karate |
| least. | | | | lessons to this-that-and-the-other-thing. |
| | | | |
| Thank God, one day I woke up and realized the | | | | I remember one mother (years ago when I was |
| ludicrousness of the situation. I simply got | | | | chauffeuring my own kids around) who had four |
| tired of jumping to the whims of the | | | | children, all four of whom were on different |
| manufacturers (who could not have cared less | | | | baseball teams. She never actually had time |
| how I looked), whose sole purpose was profit. | | | | to watch a whole game and enjoy it, because |
| | | | she had to keep running to and fro picking up |
| I had had training about ten years earlier in | | | | and delivering, etc. She was always frazzled, |
| the skills of charm and modelling, which had | | | | to say the least. |
| included learning the styles which optimized | | | | |
| my particular build. But, yielding to the | | | | And the kids themselves end up having frantic |
| pressures of fashion (and succumbing to my | | | | lives and never get to enjoy being kids. |
| naiveté), I had abandoned those tried and | | | | School is structured enough for them, without |
| true principles for what everyone else was | | | | regimenting the rest of their time! Back in |
| wearing. Duh! | | | | the "dinosaur" days, Summer days were long, |
| | | | lazy, and relaxed. We seemed to have all the |
| Finally, when I realized how expensive this | | | | time in the world, and Summer vacation was |
| habit of having to have the "latest" really | | | | three whole months long. Today my |
| was, I determined that I would no longer be a | | | | grandchildren are lucky if they are out of |
| victim of someone else's profit margin. | | | | school by the second week in June and have to |
| | | | go back around the second or third week in |
| Ever since, I have invested only in quality | | | | August! |
| clothing that is particularly suitable for my | | | | |
| figure, frame, and lifestyle. As a result, my | | | | Add to all of this the running to and fro |
| clothes are classics that are always in style | | | | among parents, step-parents, babysitters, day |
| and appropriate for me. | | | | care centers, and it just becomes |
| | | | overwhelming at times. |
| This is one pressure relief valve that is no | | | | |
| longer needed! | | | | It's bad enough when we adults do not take |
| | | | time to smell the roses, but our kids don't |
| The second valve that needs to be opened in | | | | even seem to have enough time to learn what |
| many lives is taking back those lives. Fifty | | | | roses are! |
| years ago life was a lot simpler (and a whole | | | | |
| lot easier). Many of the "labor saving" | | | | I believe that Henry David Thoreau gave the |
| devices we have today had not even been | | | | best advice that anyone could hear many years |
| conceived then. And I'm not so sure that they | | | | ago: "Simplify, simplify. |