In Praise of Missing Out

[👆 apparently taken from Jason Fried's book It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work]

This JOMO post (or its likeness) has crossed my radar a few times this week... One person said,

"Yes! This is me!"

while another said,

"This is so not me! But I long for the desire to embrace it!"

To all the FOMOs, the Maximizers, the Overachievers out there... there is no better time to try to embrace this than right now during the holidays. 

In our modern culture where we have so many events, activities, and Pinterest crafts at our disposal, let me make a case for the joy of missing out:

1. There are more things; always more things. If you miss out on the holiday train coming through town or the opportunity to serve a meal or the gingerbread house this year... don't fret! There are so. many. things.
   
   Miss one or miss them all, there will perpetually be something to enjoy. You aren't dead and your kids are not worse off. (this is the mantra I repeat to myself in my raging, extroverted, FOMO glory)
   
   
2. When is a better time than winter to embrace slow & cozy up inside? Scandinavian culture has figured some of this out, but don't let the hygge craze be one more thing to try to attain! Just stop. Stay in. Work with what you've got. Sleep. Put on a movie. Miss out!
   
   
3. Activity & wow experiences are not the things that fulfill a life. There, I said it.
   
   
4. Peace & slow give us the capacity to be excited, prepared, & present for the special events & experiences in which we do participate.
   
   

Ashley is our fabulous student staff who helps us with blanket photography & fills in when we are away; she & her husband are having their first Christmas as a married couple and they have so many fabulous ideas for traditions they would like to begin. She is planning ideas for some traditions because she anticipates how it will be for her future teenaged children! 

Bless her & power to her, but I would suggest that leaving margin for change (in circumstance, time availability, finances, health) is an even greater gift to ourselves, our kids, & the people around us, than traditions could ever be.

What do you think you could never miss out on? What good things can you miss out on this season? Share in the comments below.