In the 1986 American teen comedy film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Matthew Broderick (Ferris) snaps a quick, witty look into the camera and says, “Life happens pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I’ve only been on this magnificent earth for 38 years, but for me at least, life seems to be moving faster and faster and faster. My work dance card holds right on the brink of bubbling over. Toss in the crazy rotation of my bride’s OB nursing schedule and the countless activities my trio of ankle biters are involved in, and each day feels like a whirlwind.

Does the above resonate with anybody else?

According to NASA scientists, planet Earth’s spin is constant. While the actual speed depends on your geographic location in relation to the equator, it’s safe to say that Earth is spinning at a speed of around 1,000 mph — the same speed it’s been spinning at since Creation.

I was little bummed with my research. I figured maybe Earth was spinning faster and was a reason my  daily life typically feels like one of those bouncy balls that come out of the quarter machines at Walmart. Toss it against a wall and it will ricochet this way and that.

And it’s not just the speed of my day-to-day life that seems to be moving at warp speed, the speed of the world around me does as well. Immediate news, both real and fake is everywhere. I find myself glued to my phone. Entertainment is instant. Social media scrolls take seconds, but often become consuming. I can watch a basketball game on my phone while paying bills on my computer and be helping my daughter with her homework at the same time. It’s just crazy, and I’m sick of it.

In the coming weeks I will be embarking on my annual three-state turkey tour, and you know what? I’ve been trying to talk myself out of going. Why? Because life is happening too fast. I feel overwhelmed, busy and behind. But here’s the deal: I believe I feel this way because I’ve let life become too complicated. I’m taking life too seriously.

Kelly Johnson, the lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works, a locale where the famous S-71 Blackbird spy plane was hatched is credited with coining the phrase, “Keep it simple, stupid.” Hey, if it works for a guy designing one of the fastest most efficient spy planes ever built in a high-pressure-to-perform environment, it should work for me.

So, in a nutshell, that’s my plan going into these busy spring months — months when magazine deadlines are tight and often months when my kids are traveling for sports. I want to enjoy my time in the field, and when I’m out there, I don’t want to be trolling Instagram, scrolling through Facebook or answering emails. The woods are too special, too brilliant and wonderful to taint in such a way. The woods are our escape into the unknown. A time when life slows down and our senses peak. A time when the sound of a longbeard thundering at the first rays of morning, and the hope of luring him in bowhunting close is all that matters.

In the chaos that is sure to surround your life and mine over the next week, month and year, let’s make it a priority to find time to keep it simple — to not take life too seriously. To be sure and make time for those moments in the woods that fill us all with a simple sense of joy. Oh, and be sure to whack a few animals along the way.

Blessings my friends!