Always busy

Americans are like bees; we are always working, always thinking about work, and always busy. Why? Why can't we all take a step back and relax? Because we will not be able to keep up with everyone else. The average day of an American is hectic and has no time for truly living. We are indirectly taught to believe that school, college, work, etc. are the most important things in life. We are raised to compete, and keep up.

I think we as Americans need to slow down and take a look at everything around us. There is so much going on in our world that we are blatantly unaware of because we are SO busy. Even simple things like sitting outside and basking in the beauty of nature. We have no time to just feel the wind against our faces and let the sun rain down on us. These simple things are lost in our fast-paced lives; even the "bigger picture" of life is coveted by everyday business. Life should always be lived in the pursuit of happiness; after all, life is too short to be boring.

In Spain (and several other Latin countries), they have a completely different outlook on life. They leave work, school, etc. around 2 o'clock everyday to go home, spend time with family, eat, sleep and relax. Everything shuts down for Siesta (defined as a midday or afternoon rest or nap, esp. as taken in Spain and Latin America) including stores, workplaces, schools, gas stations, etc. This break is a time to relax and reflect, something that Americans lack in their lives. Americans as a whole could really learn from the Spaniards. We are always going, going, going every day, all day, and have no time to slow down and enjoy life the way we should.

On top of the extremely busy lives we all lead, we complain. We all whine about being extremely busy, and yet, it's almost impossible to avoid. Because of the economy, people are forced to keep up by maintaining an extremely busy schedule as to "put in more time" towards everything. I don't think the amount of time we spend on something is not as how that time is spent. The busy life of the average American is caused by lack of focus and concentration, If we all fully put our minds to everything we do, we could get things done in half the amount of time. We could easy have more relaxed lives if we just focused in on everything we did and eliminated distractions. Maybe living like the Spaniards would help ease the stress, worry, and complaint caused by business.