Juggling Responsibilities VS. Juggling the Blame

I started writing an article on a completely different topic and realized it would take a significant amount of research and the better part of my evening.  As many of you know, the better part of my morning, day, and evening have already been taken up by the blog recently and giving yet another evening while I have a 4 month old daughter at home is something that doesn’t excite me.

I’m in a tough spot right now – I’ve spent countless hours getting the site up and running, and I feel a good deal of accomplishment, that is until I realize I haven’t shared worthwhile material in the past few days.  I’m sure the other bloggers here understand what I am talking about.  You spend all kinds of time on something like this and feel good about it…until you look at the stats and realize traffic is taking a nose dive.  It’s unbelievably difficult keeping traffic going when you are sidetracked with other work and aren’t focusing on articles and marketing that work.

As I sat and struggled with the entire issue of juggling time and priorities, I came to a realization.  I have talked about this blog becoming about much more than politics in the recent past.  I want to write about being a Conservative Christian.  My passion in life isn’t politics.  My passion is my family and my God. 

I guess what this means is, it’s not out of the realm of this blog to share with you my struggles as a husband, a father, and a man of God, and as usual, I’ll throw in a political twist in the end.

My full time job and the blog only begin to scratch the surface of the things I have taken on.  I love pressure and as a result, I often get myself into trouble by taking on too much.  Just a small sampling from my to-do list includes finishing the remodel of both bathrooms, finishing rewiring the house (self taught), changing the brakes on my wife’s car, start building our new patio/vegetable garden/fence/memorial garden for our son, and continue studying for the architectural registration exam along with the usual daily chores of owning a house and having a family.  On top of those things, I am usually the first person to drop what I am doing to help others or simply spend some time with friends and family.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and I am always looking to take on more.

What really burns me on this issue is when I manage to get out of the office for a few minutes during the day, how many people I see just wandering with nothing to do.  Why am I juggling so many things, struggling to be a husband and father, while others don’t even have a ball to juggle?

I don’t take on extra things for the hell of it.  I work on our house, yard, cars, my education, and hobbies like the blog because I am passionate about life.  I’ve been taught to appreciate the things I have.  I take pride in what is mine and will work my hind end off to keep it.  Meanwhile, I see people who haven’t even considered making an attempt to get a job, living off government assistance, just killing time. They probably have 4 kids at home, and despite not having a job, they still lack as a parent.
 
I’ll work out these issues on my own, as any good father and husband would, but what about the rest of this country?  I’m fearful of the culture we are breeding.  We have an entire segment of society that doesn’t take pride in anything.  They don’t work, yet still can’t be bothered with their family responsibilities.  Divorce rates are through the roof, the number of single parent households is staggering, and irresponsibility is running rampant.

It’s frustrating when I first take a look at what I have to do while still being the best father, husband, and man of God, but in the end I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  If the other option is to not care, I have no interest.  What do you live for if you don’t care about anything?  What is your motivation in life?

We have a responsibility to ourselves, our families, and to God, to be everything we can be in life.  I will always work to provide a quality of life for my family, and I will always be willing to set more of my own time aside to help others.  This path may lead me to stressful, difficult times like this past week, but I would rather know I did everything I could to handle my responsibilities rather than expecting someone else to take care of myself and my family.

To get a little more political about this topic, if you aren’t concerned about the message the current administration is sending to the average American family, you need to open your eyes.  Our elected ‘leaders’ can’t work together, can’t balance a budget, they waste other people’s money, and they have no interest in being held responsible for their actions.  Our dear leader, President Obama, is the spokesman for irresponsibility.  He’s an expert at passing the blame.  His problems seem to have nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the people before him and/or currently around him.

Is that the message you want your children to hear? 

If you can’t get a job, blame someone else.  If you can’t balance your budget, expect someone to give more to you.  If you can’t provide a safe living environment for yourself or your family, expect someone to do it for you.  If you don’t want to be a parent, don’t worry, you don’t have to be responsible for your actions. 

Would you rather teach your kids to juggle their priorities and responsibilities, or juggle the blame?

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