Last week I was busy.
Well, to clarify, I was more busy than normal. Leading a Bible study, serving at BSF, attending meetings and evening commitments, traveling for work, preparing for a speaking engagement, making time for family, keeping up on the home front, spending time with my husband, grocery shopping, attending Sunday worship, completing my Bible study, etc., etc. Needless to say, it was a packed week.
I learn something about myself when I’m busy.
I learn that I don’t like being busy. In fact, I don’t like the word busy at all. So much so, I have nearly removed it from my vocabulary. Writing it today even bothers me and I questioned myself in doing so.
Dictionary.com defines busy as:
- actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime;
- not at leisure;
- otherwise engaged;
- full of or characterized by activity;
- bustling, hectic, restless, tiring
I do not like busy.
Quite honestly, I think I don’t like it because of who I become and what I do when I’m busy.
Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Inc., used to say, “Busy people get the most done.” Yes, I agree. You and I tend to get more done when we’re active and on the go. We prioritize, we engage ourselves, we are attentive. You and I get things done.
But, I also know how it feels to be busy all. the. time. I know how quickly it can turn to over-the-top busy. And, when we ride that crazy train for awhile, burnout isn’t far behind. Oftentimes we’re unaware of how this cycle consumes us. We hop on the hamster wheel and keep on running until we eventually fall off.
Maybe it’s time to hop off the hamster wheel before we fall off.
I learned some tough lessons in 2018. One of them was to hop off the hamster wheel. The hamster runs and runs on its wheel, but gets nowhere. That was me last year. I was the hamster. Running, but getting nowhere.
So, by the force of my health, I learned (again) to take care of myself. To rest more and to stress less. To walk a little more than to run. My life isn’t meant to be lived in a constant state of activity. Coming from someone who is more a Enneagram 2/3 personality, that’s a struggle.
I want to be active, yes, but when I’m too busy, I tend to shut down. I get cranky and lose my footing. As a result, I lose sight of where I’m going and become burned-out on the busy I’m currently in. Hence, the hamster wheel mentality.
Friend, how are you taking care of you? How are you doing in the current busyness of life? Are you caught up on the hamster wheel?
You’re invited to take a break from busy.
This is the very subject of our next BYOB and B (Bring Your Own Bible and Beverage) event on Monday, April 29. If you’re local to me, I’d love to share this evening of encouragement with you! We’re pausing life for a couple hours to look busy in the eye. To ponder the help and hope that’s available to us in our current season of life. A girls’ night out with a purpose! Bring a friend! More details are here.
Friend, even if your schedule is full, do something for yourself today. Rest from the busyness of life. Read something encouraging. Take a nap. Do something just for you. And, if you can, join us on April 29.
You are worth it, my friend. You are so worth it.
Blessings!
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