Why I’m Choosing JOMO

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These day’s there’s an acronym for everything, I feel like I’m searching a new one every week to see what it means. Perhaps you’re familiar with FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), and as Tammy writes here, the FOMO struggle is real! It’s becoming increasingly harder to fight this urge with the presence of social media at your finger tips. At any given moment you can scroll through your feed and see posts of families taking part in fun social activities. Sometimes guilt kicks in and you feel like you’re not doing enough with your family, or it leads you to piling on too many activities.  Let me introduce you to FOMO’s positive counterpart, JOMO (Joy of Missing Out).

Why I'm Choosing JOMO

One particular day stands out in my mind where I came to a realization that I was over scheduling my family on the weekends. It was a Saturday in the Fall, and I had RSVP to a BBQ, my son had T-Ball orientation, and I purchased tickets to go to the pumpkin patch. There was about a 15 minute buffer between each event, but lets be real, it takes that long just to get the kids in the car and loaded up. Well we ended up leaving the house 20 minutes late, because life, and my kids were cranky and hungry, my husband was annoyed that I had so many activities for us to do, and I was getting burned out just thinking about how we were going to get it all in. After a much needed venting session in the car, we decided to skip the BBQ, grab a quick lunch, and proceed with the remaining 2 events.

This wasn’t the first time I had too many ‘fun’ things planned for the weekend, but this lead me to the realization that sometimes less is more. Instead it’s more important to be fully present in the current activity than trying to fit it all in. Otherwise your stuck thinking about how much time you have left to make it to your next event and miss out on the family memory you were trying so hard to create. Now when I RSVP for events, I try to wait till the end of the time frame to ensure we don’t have other events going on.

The FOMO struggle is real, but you can train your mind and heart to accept that JOMO is healthy and much needed. Choosing JOMO allows me to appreciate ‘quiet’ time with my family. Toddlers aren’t very quiet, but it’s nice to relax on Saturday morning and enjoy my coffee with the kids playing in the living room. It’s also nice to not have anything planned and just have a laid back weekend.  Sometimes the best memories are made when things aren’t planned. These are the memories to cherish, appreciate, and find joy in.  Of course the majority of the time our weekends are booked, and we’re shuffling the family to different events, which is inevitable with a big family and close friends, but I’m trying harder to make decisions to embrace the Joy of Missing Out.   

Fuentes Family

2 COMMENTS

  1. I love this! Well said, I have had to say no to many things so I can enjoy the little things! And I have to enjoy each season without feeling guilty.😘😘😘

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