Is It So Important?

Do you ever just think about something so long you start to actually think you need it? Instagram and other social medias seem to count on people do this. Most people use one if not more of the many social media outlets and when we get onto these outlets there are ads and reels/tweets (whatever they may be called) for different things you may have clicked on at one point. So for me I tend to navigate towards animal related topics. So though I will never have a farm, own a cow, chicken or horse I watch others that do own these animals and what they do with them. From those I have at some point clicked on a post for a veterinary topic in which now I follow certain people who of course have products they sell. I have seen numerous items that flow across my screen enough to now own certain items sold purely because I saw them enough times I was able to convince myself I really needed them.

My kids do this based on what they see going across their screens. I have seen them want things ranging from Fortnite, to Dragons to Anime. Recently due to new movies coming out, there have been reels and tweets and such about the movies. Cue thinking you want something just because you have seen it so many times. The latest fascination is the Spiderman movie. Due to the amount of times we have seen the actors doing their things they do and the promotion of the movie, one of my daughters is now interested in seeing latest movie as well as the ones previous to it. She has started looking into prices on renting the movies, she has watched the reels and tweets. She has gone and talked to her friend who is a Marvel fan to see what his thoughts are. I can say this, she is thorough.

We try to teach our kids the value of research and to be sure of their choices. It doesn’t always work and there are times in which us as parents don’t set great examples. My son at the moment is sure in his choice to not do the dishes that were left from last night. He has this thing about leaving chores undone. He gets them mostly done and then gets distracted by anything else that isn’t a chore. Last night dishes were left on the counter that were both clean and dirty. So we put them all in the sink and let him know he had to clean them all by hand and put them away. He is sure that my hubby and I are not fair. He even went as far as getting the Uno deck out to find the reverse card to give to one of us so that we would have to do the dishes for him. Cute but not effective. He was so sure of his ability to not have to clean the dishes by hand he made a price list of what it would cost us to have him do the dishes by hand and put them away. Once again cute but not effective. I will give it to him, he is creative in his ways of trying to get out of the problem. We will always encourage creativity, we will also enforce responsibility for your actions.

The ability to shut off the “obsessing” over different thoughts, actions, items is important. Most people in my life know that on Sundays I usually don’t answer my phone. I don’t even have it close by. I have chosen to take a day away so that I can focus on family life. Sometimes though I catch a text that upsets the quiet flow of the day. It’s of no fault of the person who sent it, since I chose to read it. Most of the times it is things that I can take care of on Monday but that doesn’t mean scenarios don’t go through my brain of what could happen if I don’t take care of it when I see it. It’s almost like waking up in the middle of the night knowing you should use the restroom but then decide you can ignore it only to not fall back asleep until you take care of the need. Taking time for yourself and family needs to be a first. If you can’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of others. This is the point of my Sunday routine. The rest of the week I respond quickly and try to help people and pets as much as I can, Sunday is the day I don’t.

In whatever way you see what it is that causes you to want something, it is up to you if you want to obsess over it. Is the movie or item so important that you think about it so much you buy it or see the movies as well as the previous movies? Is a routine so important to you that you do whatever it takes to preserve the routine? I wish I could say that I don’t think on things so much that it ruins my peace. When I look back on the times I did this, I can say it really wasn’t worth it. There are items of clothing I bought thinking I just had to have it that I no longer have. My kids no longer have the toys or clothing or pictures that they just had to have, but later decided they were no longer important. This is one reason why experiences have become more important than items. Days off are sacred. Family time is of priority. The things of importance have changed. Until next time:

Be strong enough to let go and patient enough to wait for what you deserve