Busy but Balanced
Michelle Hottya
Santa Clarita CA USA
Report on a session from the 2003 LLLI Conference
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 20 No. 5, September-October 2003, pp. 178
Mimi Doe is a mother familiar
with the hectic nature of raising two children while trying to keep
a household running smoothly. From these experiences, she has gained
insight on creating calm and fostering spirituality for the family,
which she shared in her session, "Busy but Balanced," titled
after her book of the same name. Mimi offered several tips to help the
parents in her audience. Calling children "the Buddhas in the back-seat"
for their uncanny wisdom and simple way of looking at the world, she
encouraged the audience to take a similar view of life by pausing to
examine the lives they are living with their children.
Some of Mimi's suggestions for developing balance in family life include:
- Design a road map for your life.
- Learn to say "No" and not over-commit.
- Articulate everyday beliefs that can be shared with the children.
- "Pick the thing with feelings" when choosing priorities.
- Get rid of the "energy vampires" by taking basic steps to eliminate, delegate, and simplify.
- "Ditch the guilt" by making it a positive motivator to take action.
Mimi emphasized the importance
of managing your child's schedule so it doesn't become too busy, and
sharing a family night every week. She encouraged her listeners to develop
habits of reverence, to practice authentic listening, and to create
a predictable rhythm to the day so that children know what to expect
and have pockets of time for quiet as well as for being heard.
As the session closed, Mimi
encouraged everyone to remember what is most important in their lives,
and to discuss with their spouse ways to achieve their ideal day and
family life.
Last updated Tuesday, October 24, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:31 UTC 2007.
