Do you ever get the feeling that you are being rushed through your days. Rushed through your weeks, your months and even more worryingly, rushed through your years.
It is literally three weeks since Christmas, two weeks since the New Year, and the shops have been selling Cadbury's Creme Eggs for a couple of weeks now. The chocolate eggs are being highlighted everywhere in the press because of the complaints about the 'change in recipe' of the chocolate and the reduction in the number of eggs you get in your 'half dozen' packs.
Christmas seems a very distant memory.
If we are being encouraged now to buy Easter Eggs aren't we being rushed forward quite considerably. Surely first we need to be persuaded to buy something tacky and red for Valentines Day ...
.... or extra lemons and pancake mix for Shrove Tuesday.
There is talk already of 'spring cleaning' when we are only just into Winter properly. The last thing I want to be doing is taking apart my house and cleaning everything, I need the fluff and the dust to keep me warm, so NO I will not be dashing out to buy 'products' to clean my home.
If the dust bunnies get too fluffy, a good hoover and a bit of good old soapy water and a recycled cloth will keep them down until it actually is Spring and the sun once again shines in my windows.
We are being rushed forward to the next thing constantly, told that we 'need' to buy this and we need to buy that to make our families happier, ourselves more successful. and our world a more hygienic and better place to be in.
But how much do we 'need' to buy ... I think it's time for a lot of us to take a HUGE step back!!
Time to assess what we need and what we have. To think long and hard about what we want and why we want it. I think I can honestly say at this moment in time I do not want anything. I have enough food in the cupboards to keep us fed for weeks, enough oil in the tank and wood in the log pile for heating the house. I have enough clothes and shoes to last me a couple of years ... in fact I still feel I have excesses so I am about to have another few days of sorting through things and taking them to the charity shops.
I do not want to buy any creme eggs, nor do I particularly want anything for Valentines Day, a hug and an 'I love you' means so much more than a mass produced card that will no doubt be replicated on many a mantlepieces all over the country.
As for Shrove Tuesday I have flour and eggs and if I feel the urge to join in I could no doubt rustle up a few pancakes ... it seems I would be in good company.
No, I don't want to be rushed through my days ... I want to live my life one day at a time, to enjoy my days not dash through them.
Yes we may be busy, we may have a hundred and one little jobs that needs doing, families that need caring for, animals that need feeding, walking and loving but we can take out of our lives all the extra things that fill up the time, that fill up the space in our heads with their demands. The shopping for things we don't need, watching adverts that tell us we do need them. Planning outings to go and buy things and fighting our way round shops full of people doing exactly the same.
I wish the shops were closed on Sunday as they used to be, to have a day when the only shops open were the newsagents in the morning for your Sunday paper and the little corner shop for that pint of milk or loaf of bread that your forgot to buy. Life was simpler back then and a day for breathing, relaxing and taking stock was available to all of us.
We all though still have it in us to make life simpler and make life special, if that is what we choose to do, and if you are one of the people that loves the hype, loves the hustle and bustle, loves being pushed along on a conveyor belt of consumerism and loves keeping up with Jones, then I'm sorry this wasn't the post for you was it ;-)
We each only get one life, it's not a rehearsal for another one, a better one, a different one ... this folks is it. Our lives. Make your days count and DO NOT let anyone rush you through them ... they are YOURS all yours.
Sue xx
All pictures and images from Google Images
..... who even knew there was a whole page there full of dust bunnies!! :-)
I can honestly say I hadnt noticed any of this, I have only been to the shops once since christmas, I dont buy newspapers and watch very little TV, now you have me intigued about the half dozen egg thing will have to google it.
ReplyDeleteI chose to step off the conveyor belt when we moved and make a big lifestyle change or as some would say escaping the rat race, my days are full of doings things I want to do and I look forward to each one :-)
Loved this post. Needed to read this today. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHow I agree with you on this post, Sue. I have seen the Cream Eggs in the shops and, no, I refuse to buy any yet even though I like them (or at least I did, I might not like them now they have changed the chocolate :(
ReplyDeleteWhy rush us through all the seasons? Life is already too short, we need to savour each day more.
Are cream eggs smaller than when we were kids or is it just that our hands are now bigger? There seem to be fewer crisps in a packet and chocolate bars seem to have shrunk too. I noticed the eggs in the shops too and thought to myself, "What, already?". We've no sooner put the Christmas decorations away than we're being told to buy for the next big event. We don't bother with Valentine's Day these days. OH makes me a cup of tea every morning - that's good enough for me. And I do plenty of things for him. We're looking forward to our silver wedding anniversary in two months time. We were planning on a wee romantic getaway but the roof needs fixing and we need to pay an electrician to do a few jobs in the house!!
ReplyDeleteI'm like Dawn, didn't know about Cream Eggs Scandals! I shall have to look it up too. I've been shopping but I don't even look at things I don't need. I don't read any newspapers except when we get given some old ones for firelighting. We do watch TV but the ads go in one ear and out the other.
ReplyDeleteBut you knew I would say all that anyway!
Mmmmm Pancakes.......now there's any idea for the weekend and I could make some Hot Cross-less buns too!
Yes, the Sundays were something to look forward to in years gone by, now they just seem like any other day, most shops are open.
ReplyDeleteOur area also had mid-week half days, varied from town to town, ours was Thursday, shops closed at dinner time.
Even the pubs had restricted opening hours on Sunday, and the buses ran a very much reduced service.
There were 3 corner shops in town open on Sunday, everybody knew which ones, they were owned by middle-aged widows, who I suspect had nothing else to do.
I wish the shops were closed on sundays as well. I really feel for the retail staff who have to work boxing/new years day just so the shops can peddle the half price tat. Not everything is great in the modern world.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter can't make it to have lunch with me today, as she has too many things to get done. And she is a stay at home mom! But I might add, with too many obligations. In our touristy little town, the shops open on Sunday but not until the afternoon. At least the morning is clear. Thanks for your reminders...love Dr. Seuss, Sue.
ReplyDeleteLove your post today-thank you for making me feel ok about not wanting to spring clean. Like you, I am decluttering and trying toreach the 1000 items this year. This is my first comment -I am glad your are allowing anonymous as I don't have a blog. Catriona
ReplyDeleteAnonymous comments are always allowed, but it's lovely that you sign your name. I do realise that for those without Blogs or accounts, and even for those with, it's sometimes easier and quicker to comment as anonymous :-)
DeleteI'm not cleaning until Spring! Amen to all that you have just said.
ReplyDeleteThank heavens I don't like Creme Eggs - I have nowt to worry about! Spring cleaning - well, as you said, it's very much winter still. My children have grown up now, and no little grandchildren yet, so no Easter Eggs. We've never bothered with Valentines' cards, Anniversary cards - but we are in love as much as ever we were. I need to have a sort out of my chest of drawers as I've bought new tops recently and no room for them, so the gardening t-shirts will have to make room. I don't clear out for the sake of it, but the necessity really. My idea of hell is going round a busy shopping centre.
ReplyDeleteI stepped off the hamster wheel of life 30 years ago and never regretted a minute of it, although it meant moving away from dear friends and family, and going without many things for years because I chose not to be a working mum. It was the best choice I ever made.
Could not agree more! - Maggie
ReplyDeleteI don't watch the adverts, , can't say I've taken much notice of the adverts either. Nonetheless, I agree with every word. Xx
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice!
ReplyDeleteYes! Some of the shops here were putting out Valentines Day things the week before Christmas...it is just another thing they want you to BUY, BUY for. Not buying it here, either....
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree Sue, and you've inspired my blog post for today, so thankyou for that!
ReplyDeleteI'll nip over and have a read. :-)
DeleteI agree completely with you, Sue. I wish shops were shut on Sunday's still. I dislike Creme Eggs, but it still riles me to see them stacked in the supermarket already!! I thought the feeling of wanting to slow down was just me getting old!! Am glad others feel the same!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree Sue. It's funny it's my birthday next week and when I was asked what I would like I couldn't think of a thing. We are therefore going to have a bracing Winter day at the seaside when the weather picks up a bit.
ReplyDeleteI work in a school and as we live by the calendar and terms our lives seem to whizz by, my Twiglet is growing up soooooo quickly :(
Twiggy
Loved your post, everywhere they are bombarding us with images of how our lives should be. Lets all Stand up, Stop and leave the merry go round.
ReplyDeleteHere, here!! Well spoken.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Sue and I think January should be a month of slowing down, resting and just being.
ReplyDeleteYou wish the shops were closed on Sunday as they used to be - but if you don't go to the shops on Sunday why does it matter to you whether they're open or not?
ReplyDeleteJust because you don't want to shop on Sunday does that mean nobody else should either?
You're thinking about the shops being open - stop thinking about it and it won't affect you whether they're open or not!
You can choose to go or choose not to go - so why does it matter how many days they're open?
Overthinking!!! Let it go and relax!
I was merely pointing out that we as a society seemed much more family orientated when we had a day that was always seen as a 'family day', and that's what Sunday was. A chance to be at home or choose to go out, without the pressure to shop. And shop workers had a definite day off each week.
DeleteMy son worked for Sainsbugs for years and NEVER had a Boxing Day off and rarely a Sunday, because every Sunday the store was full of families having their 'day out' together shopping.
So it matters ... really matters to shop workers, and I'm not OVER thinking, I'm just thinking, and please don't EVER tell me to relax!!
Crikey - that's me told off and put in my place!
DeletePresumably your son was told the working hours when he applied for the job?
Perhaps you should read up on blog equitette - carital letters are not used unless you're SHOUTING at somebody.
At my stage in life I'm not going to be shouted at by anybody. Needless to say you've just lost a reader therefore reply not required.
Yes, my son was told his potential working hours when he accepted the job, but as he had been out of work for over a year even though he has two degrees and he has a strong work ethic he just wanted to be earning money and would have taken ANY job that was offered to him.
DeleteAs for Blog, and indeed internet etiquette, I know capitals mean that you are shouting ..... or indeed simply making a point when italics aren't available.
Losing a blog reader is sad but not the end of the world when it is one who feels they have the right to be so unpleasantly forthright!!!
(....and I'm sure you'll be sneaking back just to see if I have responded)
The world is going too fast for me.
ReplyDeleteWe do rush too much and the commercial onslaught gets to be way too much.
ReplyDeleteYour post resonates hugely with me. Thank you for reminding me that I am not the only one who feels like this. I try hard to opt out of this constant need to rush and to acquire and I try hard to be present in the moment instead. Not always easy though.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely loved this post Sue, and I agree with everything you had to say...spot on!!
ReplyDeletexTania
I worked in a shop for eight years, in the US, where workers are not treated very well. I was part time. Sunday and Monday were two of my regular days...I never understood WHY shops were open on Sunday (it was a gift and flower shop) and when we closed at 6 pm, having been open since 9 am, shoppers would ask why we were closing so soon...and of course, Mondays were frequently holidays...I missed many Sunday family parties and worked all of the Monday holidays. At no extra pay for working theses days...and no "holiday" pay or paid sick time....I agree..just saying "don't shop on Sundays" doesn't cut it for me , either....
ReplyDeleteI have to admit to spending quite a bit over the last week or so but it's on tooling to ensure I can work from home more and reduce my dependence on having to use other trades. There was no advertising involved and hopefully it will mean buying less in the long run because I'll be able to make more for myself and my family. I watch few adverts these days so I like to think I'm influenced less by them.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that when my wife and I were working like hell through our twenties to be able to afford the house and the time to bring up our children how we wanted, Sunday opening was a god send otherwise we couldn't get to the supermarket very easily, although that said I got into the habit of doing it late at night as I jate shopping when it's busy.
:) :) :)
ReplyDeleteI love Dr. Suess....such wisodom...
ReplyDeleteSo true, I'm all for a slower pace of life. I wish everything would shut down over Christmas too like it used to!
ReplyDeleteCream eggs.....seen near me before new year!! Xx