To zen or not to zen

I've been reading several different blogs, Facebook updates, etc., that are written by people who are trying to de-stress their lives. Let me hasten to say: I think this is a laudable goal. Stress is endemic today and I'm all for de-stressing.

One thing that strikes me reading all of these blogs is just how foreign their lives are to mine. Here's one: Zen Habits. I read this and I thought, "What planet does this guy live on? How can he take an hour or two or three hour walk every day?" And how do you start "Working less"? For many people that just isn't an option. If we work less, we earn less. If we earn less, we have less money. If we have less money, then we are forced to make changes, some of which are not pleasant.

The same is true of some other blogs I've read. These are written by people who seem to be permanently on vacation. They take 2 week long trips here and there. They take long walks in the mountains. They don't appear to have to work for a living. Another person whom I know is constantly playing: sports, hobbies, relaxation...she doesn't work for a living.

This has been bugging me for weeks now. The most precious thing I lack right now is TIME. I don't have all the TIME I want to do things. I work full-time. I write almost full-time. I have an hour or two a day to spend with my husband. And I have 5-6 hours to sleep. I can't take vacations here and there. I have to plan mine and save up time for them and, well, earn them.

So reading these updates, and reading these blogs has been irritating to me, not enlightening because these people don't live on my planet. They don't live in reality. They are living somewhere else that has little to do with how most people live their lives.

I need to find someone who is de-stressing who is living in the Real World. When I do, I hope I can learn from that person. Because life is a juggling act, and sometimes I'm just waiting for the balls to fall all around me...