I used to be just like most other people in thinking of busyness as a badge of honor or a sign that I was important or needed. It’s a glittery patch of quicksand if I’ve ever seen one.
But what I have come to realize is that we CHOOSE to be busy. We CHOOSE to be overscheduled, stressed, running from thing to thing to thing. We’d rather deal with the discomfort of rushing or the discomfort of urgency (real or imagined) instead of choosing to say no to someone’s request or setting a boundary around what we’re willing to do (or not).
Which made me realize – being busy is BORING. If the default is to just do what people ask, pile on the work and the commitments and the volunteering, then we’re not really doing anything interesting. We have nothing worth protecting. We’re not having a challenging conversation to dig into what’s REALLY needed, what the deadline REALLY is, how many cupcakes are ACTUALLY needed.
I’m so much more intrigued by the person who has time on their hands, who is selective about what they do (what makes the cut and what are they giving up??!) than by the one who is always just so busy.
It makes me look at my life with a new eye. Am I just jamming it full of things because I’m invited or because it sounds vaguely interesting or because it seems like something I should do? (Looking at my calendar right now with this lens, I can see at least 3 things that fall into one of these traps…sigh…) Or is it filled spaciously with the things I want and love the most, with time between to rest, recover, reflect, and ready myself for the next thing?
