“Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be a man who is brisk about his work — what, I wonder, do these busy folks get done?” ~ Soren Kierkegaard
How many times can you remember asking someone how they’re doing…and they usually respond with a smile and say…”busy!” That’s the new go-to response. How are you?
Busy!
Everyone’s just trying to get from here to there.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be busy living my life. I would like to live my life fully…or how about…mindfully. Personally, I am still learning how to make this adjustment myself.
Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard noticed this 150 years ago. That busyness was a sign of unhappiness — a means of distraction.
We are human beings, not human doings. We live in a society that glorifies busyness.
I don’t think busy is necessarily a good thing. Busy doing what? Busy thinking? Busy worrying? Busy is not synonymous with productive. Busy doesn’t mean working really hard…or caring a lot, or successful. Just think about what busy means.
Busy – lively, but meaningless activity. Having a great deal to do. Occupied – being used by someone. Unavailable. Preoccupied – dominate or engross the mind to the exclusion of other thoughts.
None of that sounds like a good thing. There is no real connection being made while we are in a busy state. A busy person is not available to you. They may be physically there…but perhaps not really. Remember the busy phone signal?
“When you begin to relinquish your ego, you will no longer feel compelled to prove to people how busy you are in an attempt to validate your sense of worth.” ~ Miya Yamanouchi
We are not robots who were designed and meant to just get things done. At what cost? The cost of losing everything that makes us human?
I think glorified busyness distracts us from what’s really going on — what’s really there in our lives. If we just keep moving, perhaps it won’t catch up to us.
Ok. So, what’s the opposite of busy? Lazy? I’m definitely not advocating for laziness. I think it’s this:
Free.
Not just in the sense that your schedule is free, but you are free.
We can have the experience of being free while still accomplishing everything we want to accomplish. You just don’t feel…busy…while you’re getting things done.
“A leisurely pace accomplishes more than hurried striving.” ~ Sarah Young
I love being with people who can be still. People who can just sit there and be. They don’t need to say anything to fill up the silence. They’re not thinking about the next thing they have to do or the next place they have to be, because they’re right here.
There is quite a noticeable difference between the busy person and the mindful person. The one who is present.
The interesting thing about this is you don’t really have to change a thing. While going about your day today, try not to feel so busy. See what happens.
