Are Your Relationships Being Damaged by Technology?

I get it. We're all busy.

And in some ways, we can't help it-our children have school. For many families, both parents work, and there is no way around it. So there's the rush to get everyone everywhere-because yes, as parents, we recognize the value of giving our children extra opportunities to learn a new instrument, sport, or art. So we're getting them there too. And dinner? Oh right. We need to eat. But we haven't been to the grocery store. Take out, anyone? I'll go get that too.

I concede that I am just as guilty of this. I find myself taking on too much, and at the end of the day, I'm so exhausted, I just want to get everyone to bed. So I work and go to school and keep my children in a good school and find myself running everywhere-for what?

So we can all get home and go to bed?

It's not always that way, of course. I try hard to make extra time on the weekends, where we spend time just watching movies, going to the library, and Costco shopping trips, where my children love to try all the samples. And those are great. But, like so many others, I seem to lose my way in the winding roads of business and school and daily duties.

Relationships Play A Central Role In The Overall Human Experience

Weekly columnist Omid Safi wrote, in his article titled, The Disease of Being Busy

What happened to a world in which we can sit with the people we love so much and have slow conversations about the state of our heart and soul, conversations that slowly unfold, conversations with pregnant pauses and silences that we are in no rush to fill? How did we create a world in which we have more and more and more to do with less time for leisure, less time for reflection, less time for community, less time to just… be?

It's a valid question, and one that calls for serious reflection-that is, if we can make the time to do so.

As adults, it is our responsibility to see that our children get that breather, take that time out-because, yes, they are busy too. They want to experience all that life has to offer, but often, the louder, faster, and flashier things get more notice than the quiet moments of sunshine and gentle breezes.

It's time to remember that we can take-well, time. Time to enjoy each other, time to learn about each other, and time to just be.

Wingate Wilderness Therapy is a program designed to help 13-18 year olds and 18-26 year olds get back in touch with themselves and the natural world around them. If your son or daughter is struggling, give us a call at (800) 560-1599.