Put Up Some Stop Signs

Jul 14
21:00

2002

Arleen M. Kaptur

Arleen M. Kaptur

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We rush to and from work or other ... ... and ... fill our daily hours and we fall into bed ... but find sleep hard to come. Our nerves are tensed because there is so mu

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We rush to and from work or other activities. Appointments and commitments fill our daily hours and we fall into bed exhausted but find sleep hard to come. Our nerves are tensed because there is so much more to do and so little time. Tempers flare and the news media calls it “road rage” or “domestic violence.” Our children feel stress at an early age and many of our older adult population never get to find and enjoy their “golden years.”

Exactly what is happening to our daily lives to cause all this unprecedented hyperactivity and tenseness? We certainly have advanced in knowledge and ability from the previous generations,Put Up Some Stop Signs Articles but we still feel a nagging feeling to find the real truth. There are enough entertainment toys to fill our homes with noise, recorded laughter, and music to anesthesize our minds into a temporary respite from our worries and our fears. We want to leave our children a legacy of peace around the world, yet we nit pick each other into a frenzy of hurt feelings and lashbacks. There is definitely something wrong and even science, as it progresses forward with new discoveries and insights, can’t seem to be able to quiet our hearts, and fill our souls with peace and tranquility.

No, science and technology can’t do it. Your co-workers and friends can’t achieve it for you. You’re it. Just you - you’re the only one who can put the brakes on this run-away activity cycle and the desperate attempt at everyone and everything around you to pull and tug in different directions and to leave you frazzled and dazed. Your family can’t even put up your “stop signs.” You’re definitely it. Only you can halt the super activity cycle and enjoy quiet moments and refreshing mini-vacations from the world and all its splendor. You say you can’t find a moment’s peace, and that there are responsibilities. Then learn response-ability. There’s a big difference here. Response-ability is you being able to handle day to day traffic of family, friends, work and play. It is the capacity to control the flow of traffic because you are in control. Constructing stop signs in your life, and enabling the cool waters of stepping back and stepping out of the frenzy to ease your fevered brow and calm the tumultuous waters of your heart. It, in essence, means taking back control of your life. It is giving yourself permission to stop, look around, enjoy the scenery, listen to the sound of nothing, and return to the highway of existence a better person and one who has developed the innate ability to know when enough is enough. It is mastering response-ability.

So gather up your tools, and supplies and begin constructing those stop signs where and when you need them. You’re the manager, the superintendent of the road of your life. Use your authority to become aware and to stop before life pushes just a little too hard. Take your responsibilities and handle them with response-ability. You would be surprised how much easier traffic flows and those annoying minor mishaps just don’t happen as often and they don’t turn into major traffic jams.
ENJOY!
©Arleen M. Kaptur 2002 July