busy? ’nuff whining.

I think busy is a word people use to make themselves feel better. "Busy" means, I'm important, I have things to do, I'm not spending my time just idling around. It's also the people who use busy as an adjective or a descriptor who often sneer at anything anyone does in their leisure time, like, enjoying a TV show!

I find myself saying, "I'm so busy" all the g.d. time, & this segment really has me thinking. OK, the NYC Firestarter where you planted this seed really had me thinking, but not I'm committed to not using that phrase no mo'. I really want to be less results-focused & enjoy the journey more than usual, & I realized that being present is key to that. How can you be present if you're "busy"? "Busy" means Stuff, means Hassled, means Victim, means anything but Present, Focused & Pleasure.

And you're so right that everyone that has been alive since time has been invented has been "busy". You can make the choice to limit your connections & focus on what's meaningful for you.

So true and so ick! I wrote about this awhile back when I realized that busy is the new rich. People act all victimized by their schedules - really implying that if they are busy they are important (with attendant constant phone, text, email checking while out in the world).
I have a lot of free time - noodling time - and still get a lot done. I can't be harried, rushed or busied into success. I hope to show that to others - relax to win!
thanks, Danielle.

I love your bookcase

two thumbs up!

Completely and utterly awesome, Danielle! A few years ago while living in Toronto, I noticed that the word "busy" was starting to be a badge of honour and started to make a conscious effort to stop using it in my vocabulary. Last year, while working in a corporate job, I was overwhelmed by my calendar and the meetings upon meetings that I had to attend. Right then and there, I realized that my time is MY time and I made a conscious decision to make it mine. Sure, I had to attend meetings where it might seem like I might not have a choice - but the fact its that I *was* choosing to attend those meetings because I wanted to excel in my job.

Talk about empowering. Once I made that mental shift, my calendar seemed to get less crammed and I miraculously found time to do things that I was historically putting off - like going to the gym or leaving the office at a respectable hour - and was still able to do my job.

Thanks for bitchin' about something that need to be bitched about.

I do so love your comments. When people say to me, "I'm just so busy!" (or "We just don't have any extra money") with that whiny, arrogant tone you mention, I just want so badly to say, "Really? I have SO much time on my hands. All I do is eat bon bons and set fire to all of the extra cash I have lying around so it doesn't get in my way." :) I don't. But maybe I should. I don't know anyone who isn't busy and I don't personally know anyone who has so much money they don't have to be mindful about it. "I'm busy" is such an obvious and trite thing to say that I try very hard not to say it. When I find myself saying it, I know I need to make a change.

Thanks as always for the thought-provoking, no-nonsense and empowering wisdom.

love,love,love

Grazie, bella! I just sent this link to numerous friends who need to hear it. The word I try to teach people is NO; the earth won't explode if you say no, and it's very difficult to make that shift from people-pleaser to person in control of her/his time. I love that you mentioned being present amongst the chaos. That's all we can ask.

Loved this! So true. I'll add another overused one-liner to the "I'm so busy" mantra..... it's "I'm so stressed!"