I grew up living in the country.
And one of my Daddy'srules made me determined to NEVER live in the country as a grown-up.
"You can only drive to town ONE time each day."
It sounds like such a good rule, but it made me crazy. If I wanted to go out with friends, I needed to find something to do in town until our activity began. When Chad and I went on a date, I needed to get ready in the car, which I had equipped with a butane curling iron (HA!), or find a public restroom to use. I hated it.
As we discussed moving into the country, flashbacks of high school days spent killing time in town was THE reason I did not want to move. Chad kept reassuring me that there was not a law against driving to town more than once a day, and that "it" would not be so bad!
The first months we lived here, I followed my high school routine. Unless I knew I would be home for more than 2 hours, I tried to find things to do in town between activities. And just like in high school, I was longing to be HOME more.
In the last two weeks, I finally decided that I needed to just LIVE. If I want to drive home, I drive home. And I have discovered that I am much happier. I have also had happier kids! (Sitting in the car waiting for Jay to get done running is not exactly fun!)
The moral of my story, sometimes grown-ups have to learn to make their own rules.
My daddy's rule made sense to him. It helped our family budget out a bunch. It also made a high school driver think twice before burning up gas. I can understand why it was important to him.
However, learning to break a rule that does not work with my current life style has been life changing to me! It has made me think about other "rules" I hold onto for unknown reasons. Many of those "rules" are good, but maybe there are more that I need to let go of in order to improve my own life?
Hmmm.
I better keep processing that thought!
