I know way too many folks on the Right that are fighting for “our country” and for “family values”, and yet they don’t “value” their own family. Heck, I know several people that are more well known in Tea Party circles than they are at their own kitchen tables. It’s gross. I know that’s harsh but … someone’s got to say it.
Over the last few years my wife and I have spent more time than we’d like listening to haggard tales of marriages that are on the rocks and kids that are jacked up simply because mom or dad were busy “saving the world.” Yep, some folks pre-occupation with “rescuing America” has left their children and/or spouses more neglected than Rosie O’Donnell’s Dead Sexy Abs DVD.
In addition to the loss of family, we can also be so entrenched in this fight for the soul of our nation that we not only lose our soul but our health, as well. I don’t know about you but I’d like to be around once we toss these clowns out of DC. The “concerned citizen's" brutal life style of little sleep, junk food and no exercise is a lethal cocktail that I don’t want to drink.
So, how can we strike a happy balance? How can we be effective in our efforts, rich in our relationships and not have raccoon eyes and be one tick away from a stroke? Here's five things that I believe will help us combobulate:
1. Learn how to dial down. Turn off the news. Turn off social media. And have your kids hide your cell phone on the weekends. Dear salvation egoist: believe it or not, the world will turn without your monitoring of Twitter and Facebook around the clock. No one was made by God to field this much political slop on a regular basis. Moses’ father-in-law told old Mo’ in the book of Exodus that if he didn’t chill and delegate then he was going to snap. Look it up. It’s science.
2. Get out in nature. I know I’m going to sound like an old hippie but, folks, we’ve got to have a regular dose of the irregular wild to keep us tethered to reality. King David said God restored his soul in green pastures and by still waters and not with Zanax. That’s one of the reasons why I will continue to fish and continue to hunt; at least fish and hunt on private lands and waters not affected by the Shutdown.
3. Watch comedies. A lot of activists are meaner than snakes. They’ve got a snap factor that makes Obama look sedate. Here’s an FYI: You’re miserable to be around. Lighten up. Laugh. Be the Churchillean “Happy Warrior”, por favor. Try not to say “communist” so often and chuckle a little more.
4. Enjoy your spouse and love on your kids, in person, and not via Skype.
5. Get off your butt and exercise. Get the blood flowing. Drop 20-200lbs. We’re going to need you around to help sort this nation out after we get the corrupt-o-crats out of office. And, if for some reason our efforts don’t work out, you’d better get fit because it’s the zombie apocalypse and, if you saw World War Z, these new zombies can haul ass.