Laundry and Dishes and Bills, Oh My!

I recently read a blog post about how we all use the idea of being busy as a substitute for feeling important, and that we simply need to prioritize and make choices about how we spend our time.  While I understand this concept and agree to an extent that we choose how to spend our time, there are also certain things that you have to do if you want to be a responsible person.  While it may be true that no one cares how clean my house is, I don't want to live in a pig sty.  People probably would care if I sent my kids to school naked; and I  imagine that we'd eventually be evicted if I stopped paying the mortgage.

I have so much for which to be grateful for, and I really am happy.  But there are times when I feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities in my life, which can lead not to unhappiness, but to feeling discontented.  Sometimes I think about how hard I've always worked and I question if being in this state with constant demands on my time and energy is really worth all that work.  I started officially working when I was 15 (I babysat for pay starting at 12).  I put myself through college because my dad got laid off from his engineering job during my senior year.  I've worked ever since with my only breaks being while I was on maternity leave.  While I would never trade my life with anyone else, some days I do think it would be nice to be independently wealthy and not have to get up and go to work every day.  I think I would feel less resentful of the time that I spend on household chores if I had more down time overall.

But maybe I'd just find new things to be discontented about.  Maybe it's good to be this busy all the time.  Perhaps this helps me to hone in on the important things that align with my values and choose wisely how to spend my time.  Maybe I'd just waste time if I had more of it.  I wouldn't mind finding out one way or the other, but I guess for now I'll just keep on keeping on.  After all, I see people whose lives aren't as satisfying as mine who work even harder than I do, so I guess I should keep that in perspective.  And I'll keep on doing the laundry and dishes and paying the bills!