doesn’t sound very mindful does it? But sometimes you have to commit fully to something… I declare war on one, or maybe two words…..  good and busy.

“It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” ~Henry David Thoreau

 

We are in a culture of very little time, or so we believe. So, I am not completely against answering ‘good’ when asked ‘how are you’, especially if you just don’t feel like going deeper. However, it seems that the word ‘busy’ is getting a full run for it’s money.We live in the north american culture of busyness. If you’re busy, you’re important. If you’re not busy, you’re underperforming. If your kids aren’t busy they will slip behind. Keep busy.  It’s not uncommon to chat as we run down the grocery aisle, about how ‘busy’ we are, how ‘busy’ life is and how ‘busy’ our kids are. Fair enough, life IS full. We have many, many opportunities and choices every day, but my bet is that when we spend our social time recounting how ‘busy’ we are, our fight-or-flight mechanism is activated and our stress level increases. Now, I’m not against a good vent about being having too much to contend with and making a plan to cut back, find some space, take a day off, have some fun. But,  let’s agree, we’re all ‘busy’. Some people more than others, some days more than others. This doesn’t mean you have to stop being busy, but be mindful of how much value you place on doing, and how you feel if you are NOT busy?

Now that we’ve settled that, let’s move on to more interesting ways to spend your free time that don’t involve going over how ‘busy’ you are. Next time someone asks you how you are, tell them something you are passionate about, working on, trying out, something you are proud of, something you are anxious about, a book you read, a movie you saw.

There are SO many other options to ‘busy’.

Can’t wait to follow this up with my next post………   stay tuned

“Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life”