Toward the end of last year, I began thinking of the three words that would rule over the year to come: Intentional, Boring, and Listen.
I’ve talked about how being intentional is important for the artist.
And right now I’m right smack in the middle of learning to be boring. It’s not very much fun, to be honest. But I know it is going to have a long-lasting positive effect on my family.
As a family we have eliminated a lot of “extras” — smart phones and an expensive data plan, Starbucks runs whenever we feel like it, and cable TV. As a result, we more intentional about how we spend our money and time.
And it’s a little bit boring, too. We’re not constantly distracted by smart phones every five minutes. We can’t run to Starbucks on a whim.
It’s actually pretty refreshing.
In fact, there are only two iPhone apps my wife and I miss at all. I miss Instagram and she misses Twist. (Okay, I miss the camera and the photo apps I like to edit photos with. I’ll just use Instagram as an umbrella term.)We miss Starbucks a little, but it hasn’t been that bad.
But that’s it.
By becoming “boring,” I’m spending more time with my kids, playing with them and reading with them. Having actual conversations with my wife. If I’m up late, it’s because I’m reading a book, not watching dumb stuff on Netflix. It’s more work on my eyes to read a book than watch a movie, so I’m more likely to turn out sooner and get more sleep.
Staying on top of our budget is not much fun, either. Every night we try to remember to report to each other how much we’ve spent that day. It’s brought us closer and more accountable to each other. It’s more fun to not think about it, but that is irresponsible and foolish.
But you know what? It’s all okay.
I’m at a stage, a season, if you will, where it’s okay to be boring. I’m a dad in my mid-30s. And I’m living a very different kind of adventure than I would have ten, fifteen years ago. I have three little kids at home to take care of, so I’m not doing anything crazy like skydiving or bungee jumping.
Now my adventures consist of marveling at a five-year-old’s wisdom. A three-year-old’s imagination. An almost-two-year-old’s immense love for his brother and sister. And a wife who does so much for our little family. Trips across town to take the kids to see their grandparents. A quiet night at home reading books and drinking hot chocolate.
I don’t have to do wild or expensive things to enjoy life. I can live a “boring” life and be just fine.
And it makes me happy.
Yep. 🙂