"We are a culture of people who've
bought into the idea that if we stay busy enough,
the truth of our lives won't catch up with
us."
(Brown, 2012)
Our culture is filled with busyness. Parents run to work or
home taking their children to play dates, soccer, basketball, dance, music
lessons, school, after school activities, youth group and more. At work
professionals and non-professionals alike fly around our jobs (or to one job
and then to another) crunching productivity records. Students move constantly
from class, to class, to homework, to work, to socializing, and back to class,
rarely taking the needed time to relax in a healthy way or sometimes to even
sleep.
Being busy is not always a bad thing, but being chronically
stressed as we all know has a negative impact on our health. Chronic stress can
impact our relationships as well. Being constantly busy can also be a cover up
for underlying fears or frustrations. It may be easier to clean the house then to
go upstairs and talk to your teenage daughter who remains distant. It may be
easier to work late than to face your family at home when your home is a
battlefield.
We are all guilty of busyness. Life has daily frustrations
and also brings seasons of difficulty which come and go. Those difficult
seasons seem to drag on at times. Staying busy (healthy or not) can be a way to
cope. If we have a discouraging week it may be easier to fill our world with
entertainment, cleaning, projects, or activities as a distraction. Unfortunately,
if activities are put in place to cover something up, they turn to bitter
experiences and we will no longer enjoy them. They become meaningless. Even
good and enjoyable activities can become "busyness".
Being busy can become a way of life and I think our culture
often supports this way of life. Maybe the purpose of busyness in your life is
not to cover up uncomfortable circumstances, but instead this cover up is a by
product. While we are still in the beginning of 2013 lets think about how we
can add more quality to our life over quantity.
Let us make commitments to do less,
better. To take more time to nurture our close relationships. Let us back off
of the responsibilities we have over committed to and apologize for overextending
ourselves. As a spouse, make time for your significant other. As parents, show
your children how to take care of themselves by taking care of yourselves. As
an employee show the value of your work and others work by having boundaries on
your time. As a student show the value of your education by allowing for more
space in your life and brain for the knowledge and understanding to sink in.
"In the end its not the years in your life that count
its the life in the years."
Abraham
Lincoln
Brown, B. (2012). Daring greatly. ( p. 137). New York, NY: Gotham Books.
