Barefoot Hippie Girl's take the cake pet peeve is when people look at me with my four kiddos and say, "you must be busy."
I usually just agree that I am. Because I am sure that people are just being nice and trying to make conversation. But this is what I'd really like to say.
"Do you know anyone who isn't busy? I don't."
But, that is rather snarky-so I keep my mouth shut.
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| does this look like a busy family? (Embrace the Camera) |
We live in a busy society. A society of people running from activity to activity. A society of people always on their technology. A society of people with too much on their plate.
It doesn't matter if you have one child, or four, or ten-you are busy. It doesn't matter if you are married or single, just starting your career or retired-you are busy.
Furthermore, if you ask someone how they are doing, how often do you get the response, "I have nothing to do? I'm just not busy enough?"
People inevitably have a whole list of things they are doing that they can tell you about.
Each one of us has the choice what to fill our time with. Each one of us fills our time with what is important to them personally. It goes back to the whole bookshelf illustration. you can read about that here.
Busy people get things done. Have you ever heard that? I find that when I have a lot to do-I get a lot done. When I have less to do, I do less.
I am reading a book called 168 Hours-You have More Time than You Think. Laura Vanderkam writes this book on the premise that though your schedule varies from day to day, quite often your week's schedule falls into a certain rhythm.
And, that in 168 hours per week you have time. Time for a whole lot of things. And time for more than you think.
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| link |
She adds up sleeping time (8 hours per night) and working time (40-50 hours per week) and then shows the balance of almost 60 hours left in the week.
60 hours is a LOT of time. What do you do with it? What do I do with it? It is possible to work, write, play, exercise, parent, cook, clean, read, or do whatever else you want, in that leftover 60 hours.
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| busy reading with my kids |
The moral of this post is that yes, I am busy. But I also waste a lot of time. Time on the internet that I could be reading or.... And, you know what-I am busy with four kids, but I was busy with one. I am busy in the summer, and I am busy in the school year.
My busy just morphs as it needs to. Allowing more of some things and less of others through different life stages, and times of year.
This summer I have conscientiously tried to fill my time with things that are important to me, and things that I feel God wants me to do. I have kicked back and enjoyed the summer. I've given up good for best. Quality, not just quantity.
I know that in less than a month we will be diving into our school schedule again, and I will have to re-evaluate my day/week rhythm. Yet, I have found in years past, that though school year is very scheduled, it often seems less busy than summer.
Busyness can be in the eye of the beholder. But only each of us can determine if we are busy at what we want to be and should be. Are we focusing on our core competencies? God's call on our lives?
And now I am going to completely switch gears and say that I am loving this baby trend happening online.
Several of the bloggers I follow are having baby number 3 or 4. I think that is amazing. We are seeing a culture shift from 1 or 2 kids per couple, to 3 or 4. This makes me very excited. It just does. We are men and women with the goal of raising our kids for the glory of God.
And we are all going to be in this busy boat together. Some people may think we are sinking, but I think we are swimming. Maybe some days look more like a back float, and some days look more like a 50 meter free style. But, that's okay.
Do you agree with my premise-the premise that everyone is busy? How has your busyness morphed through different life stages?
