People sure have liked their horns this week. 

It seems like everywhere I go, there’s always someone rushing to something. 

The older I get, the busier the world around me becomes. The busier I become. It’s hard to find time now a days to read a book, watch a show or even eat without my laptop in front of me.

Granted, I know it is important to do your best and work hard in life to get ahead, but what if you’re working as hard as you can just to simply keep up. We live in a sea of to-do lists, but I believe it is important every now and then to come to the surface of that sea, take a breath, look around and enjoy the real world.

By real world, I mean getting out of your own head, not your job, your emails, your worries or your list of things you absolutely need to do by the end of the day or the sky will come crashing down on the office. Not the every day hustle and bustle of the work week.

I mean the real world, in the woods, where you can listen to the birds chirp carelessly while the fall leaves crunch beneath your feet and stream crashes against a bank in the distance. 

The real world, where the air is filled with delicious aromas from your mom fixing a home-cooked meal, while the laughter of your family echoes through the house.

The real world, sitting out on the front porch on a crisp autumn morning, sipping a warm cup of tea and enjoying the sunrise. 

We get so caught up in our jobs and our places we have to be, honking our horns and stepping on the gas, that we tend to forget all about the real world. 

If you feel guilty for stepping out into the real world because you have too much work to do, I would like to refer you to Stephen R. Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” The final habit is “Sharpen the Saw.” This means taking the time to renew yourself physically, socially, mentally and spiritually to increase your capacity to produce and handle challenges around you. “Sharpening the Saw” encourages stepping out into the real world every now and then, so you can do better when you’re back in the work week. 

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, as I often do, take a break to sharpen the saw in the real world, instead of blairing your horn at a never ending to do list.