I’ve been reading a book by Peter Buffet, Life Is What You Make It.
Mr. Buffet is the son of the famous Warren Buffet, but he didn’t follow in his father’s financial footsteps; he became a musician. He had interesting things to say about how his father set up his three children with a specific inheritance and designated the rest to various foundations and charities.
One comment from his book caused me to think about hurry in our modern culture.
You would think that privileged children wouldn’t have to hurry so much. Families with more than enough should have more time to hang around together; and to value faith, education, and relationships more than stuff and acceleration in life.
The privileged (and nearly all of us reading this blog post who live in the USA) shouldn’t feel the need to rush through adolescence and shortchange development, connections, and memories as a family. You would think we would have more time, not less – as Tevye famously sings in Fiddler On The Roof:
If I were a rich man …
All day long, I’d biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man
I wouldn’t have to work hard …If I were rich, I’d have the time that I lack to sit in the synagogue and pray
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall
And I’d discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day
And that would be the sweetest thing of all
But instead, as Mr. Buffet notes, the privileged are among the most hurried. Not only do their children have full schedules with lessons, performances, and elite sports. But they also strive to take college classes in high school, graduate early or with multiple degrees, and jump into a lifestyle of trying to keep up.
It’s no wonder many people deal with mid-life anxiety as adults. They have had barely enough time to catch their breath since middle school.
There’s no judgment here – we cannot choose to whom we were born or how our parents parented us.
But for those who parent now: What if we take what we have and allow it to be transformed into a lifestyle that limits five-night-a-week activities? What if we focus on investing our time with family? What if we desire to be content with what we have instead of striving so hard for what is next with so much hurry?
There’s nothing wrong with having more than enough, but let’s not pass along to the next generation that we have to rush, rush, rush to be a success.
What if success looks totally different than we have been thinking?
