are the joneses worth it???

i think deep down we all want to keep up with the Joneses.  ( it’s ok not to admit it – i also refused to admit it until just now).  i am not always quite sure that we know exactly who the Joneses are – i think there are Joneses in every aspect of our lives.  maybe we don’t try to keep up with ALL of them, but i do think we all have “Joneses” that we are trying to keep up with.  i identified my Jones today.  it is the constant “having to stock the latest and greatest items” in the shop.  i am all shopped up.  i really can’t anymore.  the shop is filled to the brim – clients can hardly ( maybe i am wrong on this – please correct me if i am) look at the one new collection and scrap it, before we bombard them with another collection.  i have hardly even looked at the one, felt it, admired it and thought about what i would like to maybe do with it, before i am once again lured by an email from a Manufacturer or Distributor to the internet to place an order. (don’t get me wrong – they are only doing their jobs and they do it really well!!)  for those of you who think it is a wonderful job ordering stock for a Scrapbook Shop – yes, it is.  it is lovely to order it.  but it has to be paid, unpacked, captured onto the point of sale system, loaded onto the website, promoted via Facebook, blogs and newsletters, and you have barely finished one promotion, then the next one has to start.  do the clients actually even have time to ORDER or look at the products before we shove the next ones down their throats?  and unless you are a professional scrapper ( meaning you ONLY scrap for a living) who has time to actually use all these items on pages and projects so constantly?  i don’t.  i ADORE scrapbooking.  i really do.  it is my passion.  my staff all love scrapbooking.  but i have been ordering so many new things and keeping us all so busy unpacking, pricing, capturing stock, marketing it, spending time in front of the PC, that i think if i am this sick of keeping up with the Joneses of the Scrapbooking Industry, imagine how they must be feeling?????  so, i am going to take a break from keeping up with the Scrapbook Industry Joneses.  i am going to enjoy the latest products in the shop, tell my staff to take some of the new products and scrap with it.  i am going to let us do some layouts, write the notes and pack some kits.  we have the East London stock for our trip there in June.  we have the Bloemfontein stock for our trip there in July.  we have everything we need in the shop to make another 2000 different layouts ( we have over 2500 different patterned papers in the shop) so i am sure we will be able to stay busy.  i have hidden a few boxes with new stock in the old kitchen – we will unpack them when we are DONE scrapping the new ones.  for those of you who think that we have “lost it” – you are correct.  we have lost perspective.  i do run a business.  but i have been feeling the joy of it slipping away because of the hurry i am always in and all the things on the checklist.  for now, i would just like to sit back and enjoy the view – and forget about the Joneses.  xx