We will eventually get to the pile, when we are not
busy. But today, we are busy.
It was a Business professor who asked me if I was addicted
to being busy. I laughed, but I had to
face the fact that I enjoyed being
busy and I had become accustomed to it.
I returned to school as an adult; I was extremely busy with homework,
work, school board and taking care of my family. I had become used to the adrenaline rush in
order to get stuff done. But not
everything was done, there was a pile. Don’t worry there was nothing urgent in
the pile.
I finished school, took time off work and slowed my life
down; I was able to get to the pile. I filed papers, organized rooms, reconnected
with friends, read books, and took care of the non-urgent items. I felt a sense of accomplishment and a sense
of sadness when I realized a few important items were buried in the pile. I realized it was too easy to stay busy and
miss out on things that were important like relationships, mealtimes with
family, and sitting around to watch a movie or play a game. The non-urgent things were in the pile.
It’s not easy to slow down, but we must.
If things are piling up, it’s a good indication that we
might be too busy. Maybe some important
things have been buried in the pile because they were not urgent at the time: devotions,
diet and exercise, relaxation, shopping, time with friends, and time with our
children or spouse. We need to take time
to relax and sort through the busyness.
We need to learn to say “no” and create margin in our lives, otherwise
important things might end up buried in our pile.