Busy Bees
I texted my best friend the other day, saying that I needed inspiration for my blog. In response, she asked what I’ve been pondering lately. I thought about it for a bit, and had difficulty producing a worthwhile answer. It didn’t take me long to come to the realization that I’m too busy to ponder much of anything. Her brilliant suggestion? Blog about being busy! (When I say brilliant, I really do mean brilliant.)
Lately, especially since I started my new job, I simply haven’t had time for creativity. I haven’t even had time for thinking deeply, let alone organizing those thoughts, putting them on paper, editing them, and uploading them to my blog (this process takes a long time for a perfectionist).
My to-do list is a mile long and there’s no end in sight. I spend all of my free time trying to get it done, or hopelessly floundering, giving up altogether, and watching Doctor Who (which, frankly, is not a terrible alternative). Add my job, church committments, my Pampered Chef business, and so on. It’s no wonder I’m so busy! Let’s not even mention my hobbies that I don’t even have time for anymore. I spend so little time intentionally enjoying life, building my relationships, or nurturing my faith.
But that’s just how our culture is. We move so quickly through life, filling up all the time gaps every day with events, programs, TV shows, Pinterest, chores, jobs, volunteer committments, and other responsibilities. And if you’re like me, and have difficulty saying “no,” it gets even worse. Responsibilities pile up onto responsibilities till I feel like I’m drowning. And some days, I just cry. I feel so overwhelmed with all that I have to do that I just cry. I get tied up into a big knot of anxiety, and all hope of fulfilling my responsibilities is thrown out the window.
Every now and then, I have a day where I do nothing but relax, because I absolutely cannot do anything else. But this is just a temporary measure. I feel rejuvinated for a short while, but the busyness and stress are so quick to creep back in, and I feel lost again in no time.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not how life should be.
When I was younger, I remember reading a book from the Redwall series. For those who don’t know, they’re fantasy books written about talking animals in a medieval setting, largely centered around an abbey of peaceful woodland creatures. I remember one of the characters talking about how each day should be split up into three parts: eight hours for sleeping, eight hours for working, and eight hours for leisure. I thought that made perfect sense... until I started doing the math. Ok, people sleep for eight hours, and work for eight hours, but I don’t know ANYONE who has eight hours of leisure. That’s just not possible! Practically speaking, no. It really isn’t possible. But there has to be a different way of doing things.
Lately, I’ve had a bit of an obsession with spring cleaning, organizing, and purging everything in our house that I can get my hands on. I feel this deep need to reduce the amount of stuff we have, and simplify. I realized that this is stemming from a need to simplify the rest of my life. I’ve got too much stuff going on. But here’s the problem: I love everything that I do. I love my job, I love being a Pampered Chef consultant, I love everything I do at church. (There are some things that I don’t love, like cleaning the house, but I can’t really get out of that.) I couldn’t possibly give those things up. But it’s difficult to fully enjoy everything when I feel so overwhelmed. So how do I simplify? Is it just a matter of picking and choosing which activities I can’t do anymore?
Once again, I found myself again my friend for help. She brought up the idea of a sabbath, since God himself took a day to rest. So often, my times of rest are simply an escape from anxiety and stress, rather than an intentional time of rejuvenation. In school, I always had obvious times of reprieve to look forward to. Now that I’m not in school, I don’t. Every day is busy. Every day is a challenge. In my friend’s words, “It is a learning process to be able to find balance in the every day. And to not allow the every day to cause you an exorbitant amount of stress and anxiety. To truly embrace God’s claim that His mercies are new every morning and to not worry about tomorrow.”
I’d like to pose this issue to my readers (if you’re out there). I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this problem. We live in a busy culture. What are your thoughts? What are your experiences with busyness and trying to live a simple life?
Lately, especially since I started my new job, I simply haven’t had time for creativity. I haven’t even had time for thinking deeply, let alone organizing those thoughts, putting them on paper, editing them, and uploading them to my blog (this process takes a long time for a perfectionist).
My to-do list is a mile long and there’s no end in sight. I spend all of my free time trying to get it done, or hopelessly floundering, giving up altogether, and watching Doctor Who (which, frankly, is not a terrible alternative). Add my job, church committments, my Pampered Chef business, and so on. It’s no wonder I’m so busy! Let’s not even mention my hobbies that I don’t even have time for anymore. I spend so little time intentionally enjoying life, building my relationships, or nurturing my faith.
But that’s just how our culture is. We move so quickly through life, filling up all the time gaps every day with events, programs, TV shows, Pinterest, chores, jobs, volunteer committments, and other responsibilities. And if you’re like me, and have difficulty saying “no,” it gets even worse. Responsibilities pile up onto responsibilities till I feel like I’m drowning. And some days, I just cry. I feel so overwhelmed with all that I have to do that I just cry. I get tied up into a big knot of anxiety, and all hope of fulfilling my responsibilities is thrown out the window.
Every now and then, I have a day where I do nothing but relax, because I absolutely cannot do anything else. But this is just a temporary measure. I feel rejuvinated for a short while, but the busyness and stress are so quick to creep back in, and I feel lost again in no time.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not how life should be.
When I was younger, I remember reading a book from the Redwall series. For those who don’t know, they’re fantasy books written about talking animals in a medieval setting, largely centered around an abbey of peaceful woodland creatures. I remember one of the characters talking about how each day should be split up into three parts: eight hours for sleeping, eight hours for working, and eight hours for leisure. I thought that made perfect sense... until I started doing the math. Ok, people sleep for eight hours, and work for eight hours, but I don’t know ANYONE who has eight hours of leisure. That’s just not possible! Practically speaking, no. It really isn’t possible. But there has to be a different way of doing things.
Lately, I’ve had a bit of an obsession with spring cleaning, organizing, and purging everything in our house that I can get my hands on. I feel this deep need to reduce the amount of stuff we have, and simplify. I realized that this is stemming from a need to simplify the rest of my life. I’ve got too much stuff going on. But here’s the problem: I love everything that I do. I love my job, I love being a Pampered Chef consultant, I love everything I do at church. (There are some things that I don’t love, like cleaning the house, but I can’t really get out of that.) I couldn’t possibly give those things up. But it’s difficult to fully enjoy everything when I feel so overwhelmed. So how do I simplify? Is it just a matter of picking and choosing which activities I can’t do anymore?
Once again, I found myself again my friend for help. She brought up the idea of a sabbath, since God himself took a day to rest. So often, my times of rest are simply an escape from anxiety and stress, rather than an intentional time of rejuvenation. In school, I always had obvious times of reprieve to look forward to. Now that I’m not in school, I don’t. Every day is busy. Every day is a challenge. In my friend’s words, “It is a learning process to be able to find balance in the every day. And to not allow the every day to cause you an exorbitant amount of stress and anxiety. To truly embrace God’s claim that His mercies are new every morning and to not worry about tomorrow.”
I’d like to pose this issue to my readers (if you’re out there). I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this problem. We live in a busy culture. What are your thoughts? What are your experiences with busyness and trying to live a simple life?
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