Ob-li-ga-tions

Life is crazy busy! I'm sure thats the case for most.  There seem to always be endless amounts of things to do and constant hope for longer days with more hours in the days.  Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, bridal showers, baby showers,  dinner parties, girl's night out, mommy's night out, date nights, double dates, festivals, vacations, visitors, etc. There was a point when I used to feel overwhelmed by all this.  It felt like I could never keep up with everything I needed to do and the list seemed to grow exponentially.  Few weeks ago I was speaking to my MIL and complaining about how we don't have a single weekend free till New Year's and she said to me, "Thats good, that means your life is full!" Took me a second to absorb it but she was right.  My life is full.  Its full of wonderful people (for the most part),  full of goals and expectations & social and personal obligations. And I'm lucky to have that, right? I mean as much as I may complain about never having enough time, the fact that I'm busy is the sign of a good life, especially since its busy because I choose to make it so.  I could skip on many "obligations" but I choose not to.  I like seeing my family every week and spending time with our friends, even if its through sad times.  I like having my calendar full.  I like all the items I put on there.  They are there because I want them to be.  Very rarely do I "have to" do things I don't want to.  So I'm thankful ... for all of it ... even the sad ones ... and despite the few "have to's" I'm glad to have most of the "want to's" : )

Reminder to remember what I am constantly reminded of ...

Lately my mind has been filled with a billion thoughts so had to put them down in order to rid my brain of all the unnecessary, overflowing information.  Every time something tragic happens to someone I know, I think to myself "This is a reminder from God to cherish what's important and to not waste time on the trivial things in life"  Quite often I'm bothered by the nitty gritty useless yet time consuming issues of life ... he said, she said, they should, we didn't ... family, friends, coworkers, strangers ... you come across a ton of circumstances that make up your daily life but so few things in life really matter.  I'm human, things get to me, I'm bogged down and shocked by deceits and insecurities and back stabbing and gossip and irrational behavior and selfishness. I get that things were so much more dramatic when I was younger but I have changed dramatically in the past 5 years.  What made such a big difference in my life in my 20s seems so childish and foolish in my 30s.  Most of my friends are in their 30s and 40s and I just find it ridiculously immature for people to harp on the dumbest issues in life.

I feel so blessed to have so much in life. Most people around me live a good life and although I'm sure we can all find things to complain about (myself included) or wish for more from life (I know I do), you have to agree that most of us live a very good/comfortable/happy life. There are people that suffer through uncontrollable circumstances disease, disaster, death and can do nothing but accept the hand God has dealt them.  Somehow complaining about what one person said to another or who did/didn't invite you or who does/doesn't like you just seems so damn trivial.  I'm reminding myself today of the things and people that matter and the drama and gossip that doesn't.  I can feel good about myself at the end of the day knowing that I'm a good person and have done nothing malicious or selfish and only wish the best for everyone around me.  Even though I get sidetracked and bothered by the drama of life, I constantly try and remind myself of what really counts!  I hope others will do that same too : )