Dueling Banjoes

This is the scene this morning at our house.  Quite a few mornings actually.  The kids all play various instruments, and have to get their practice time in...sometimes simultaneously!  One french horn, one piano, two boys, two different songs (both very loud) and one mom trying to pack lunches in the next room while keeping her ears plugged!  It got me thinking though.  Both songs were very pretty, but together they were just a lot of loud noise.  If I concentrated on just one of the songs (to offer encouragement and positive feedback from my kitchen post) it sounded nice.  Both compositions competing for my attention was the problem. I was reminded of something one of my ecclesiastical leaders said recently, "We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it.  The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them.  Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives." (Dallin H. Oaks Good, Better, Best)  We are constantly given so many opportunities to do good things in this life that we are often run ragged by them.  If we exhaust ourselves on those things which are good, we leave little time for the things that are better or best.  I see this with my teenagers' friends, and young moms especially.  The kids are soooo involved in good things (sports, music, dance, debate, clubs etc) that they have almost no down time.  We have become so focused as a society on achievements and accomplishments, that ordinary creative play is a lost art for kids. Adults feel like they (and their kids) have to be busy all the time. The overscheduling of children and families means we are spending less and less time together with those we love. The family dinner table has all but disappeared. I miss the idyllic Walton family gathered around that huge farmhouse table to share a simple meal together.  I suppose this rant is just a reiteration of two past blogs (Balancing Act and Feeling Groovy both in September), but perhaps I needed to hear it one more time.  "Slow down, you move too fast..."

Quote of the Day:"The purpose of an education isn't to become wealthy, but to become rich."

--Willis Blaine teacher