You say you’re busy? Perhaps you feel like life is passing you by? Well my friends, grab a cuppa tea and let’s discuss. Yes, I’m serious! Pause life for a moment and humour me.
Busy is a negative state of being; it causes us to miss our true purpose on this journey.
There I said it. Did that hurt, and did it echo through your mind? Are you feeling the need to refute that statement?
Let me explain.
If you would, please bring yourself back to how it feels to be busy. Pay attention to the physical state; is it a positive state for you physically? Probably not, as generally we have negative physical reactions to heightened stress, which happens when our lives become busy. We may notice that we have a higher heart rate, weight loss or gain, sleep issues, skin changes, nausea…the list continues.
Let’s look at your mood. In busy stages of our lives we are usually more emotional. Unfortunately this doesn’t translate into being Mary Poppins-happy—it’s usually the opposite.
How is your performance when you’re busy? If you’re honest with yourself the end results are probably not going to be your best ever. Can you truly say that you are achieving your potential when you’re pressed for time?
There is a higher potential for relationships to become strained when you’re busy. A mother who is in a hurry is much less likely to have tolerance and patience for a child. Under the panic of a deadline, employer/employee relationships tend to lack understanding.
Assuming I’m correct in my statement now—based solely upon the examples I’ve given—perhaps we should ask ourselves how we feel about ourselves?
There is a degree of “busy” that is healthy; there are life demands that we cannot ignore. And yet, so many of us focus upon adding more demands. It seems that North American culture expects everyone to be busy in order to be productive and productivity indicates serving a purpose.
Our purpose on this Earth isn’t to be busy.
We are here to build relationships, experience life, experience culture, investigate and create things, to help others, to take opportunities to learn, to love one another. Our individual purposes are different, but I think we can all agree that none of us are here for the sole purpose of being busy.
If you took an inventory of your time, would you find that you could use it differently?
For many, being busy is a way to avoid confronting themselves for fear of what they may find lurking. If this is you, don’t worry, we’ve all been there and it’s easily reversible. Being busy all the time allows us to live in the relative comfort of our own defenses, without the need to question whether they’re working for us or against us.
I encourage you to take a look at the demands upon you. Are there some that you could delegate? Could you handle some more efficiently? How about the simple act of saying no to people when they request your time?
It’s vital for all of us to spend time reflecting and being still; to experience time more consciously. We have learned to cloak ourselves in the business of the world around us. In taking the time to shed this cloak we can see our authentic selves and begin to love and nurture ourselves.
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