82: Time

Time: The One Trap We All Fall Into

I’ve been away for a bit, and I want to be honest about why. In the week since my last episode, there was a school shooting that hit hard, and closer to home, a family we knew personally lost four of their five family members in a boating accident, a tragedy that made national news. I’m not going to take a political stance or turn either of these into something they aren’t. I just want to talk about the one thing they both drove home for me: time. The great trap of believing we always have more of it than we do.

Rethinking what deserves our energy

In light of everything that’s happened these past couple of weeks, I keep coming back to this: prioritizing a spotless, perfectly organized home simply because you feel like you should, or because it’s somehow expected, and fighting against your own natural strengths to get there, is energy spent in the wrong place. That doesn’t mean organizing and a peaceful home don’t matter. If creating a space your family thrives in, feels nourished by, and makes real memories in brings you genuine purpose and joy, that’s absolutely worth investing in. But chasing a picture-perfect standard purely because we’re surrounded by curated images of other people’s homes, images that likely don’t reflect their full reality either, is time we don’t get back.

What actually deserves the priority

Always, always prioritize time, love, and care for your family above the pursuit of a perfectly clean house for its own sake. As summer approaches, let it be a summer built around time spent together and memories made, even small, ordinary ones. They don’t need to be lavish trips or big adventures. Let it be a summer where you choose time with your people over frustration and yelling about messes, unfinished tasks, and things not being where they belong.

More than ever, seek joy, and love on the people in front of you while you have them.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.