What I'm Thinking...

I'm reading this book by this guy and some of it is good but some of it just seems weird and not too applicable to my life, or really Life in general. However, I did pick this little bit out of it recently and thought it was something to share.

The author talks about busyness and how we all do it and blah, blah, blah, I've heard it a hundred times. I try to think of myself as not busy (some have termed it 'lazy') but I do it, too. With jobs here in the States, I produce this overwhelming sense of responsibility from inside me that forces me to spend tons of time and energy focused on getting stuff done. None of this is new.

The new part is thinking more on what purpose the busyness serves. The author mentions that it gives us an illusion of security, that by tackling projects and being busy with stuff makes us feel like we are keeping the world spinning (at least our world) and thus, we are secure.

Another point that stood out and really resonated a bit was the idea that busyness provides us with 'purposeful distraction'. I do not have to face my self, my wife, my world if I'm busy, right? We can hide behind what we have to do and then be exhausted when we come home so we don't have to talk about things. I just need to sit down, watch Sportscenter/the game/American Idol have a drink and relax from all the important things I did at work that day. Busyness is an excuse to escape from life. and people. We aren't escaping from work, we really are escaping from life. (I don't know how to write the sound of gagging, but if I did, it'd go right here.)

It utterly amazes me that I try to escape from what is supposedly most dear to me. It's like I sit there and say, 'I could lead an exciting and fulfilling life where I engage people and ideas and I will spend my days with my goals being quantified by my relationships with others. Or, I could lead a terrible life where I overwork myself and then try and hide from the people around me.' Its preposterous that I would choose the latter, but I do, we all do. It's like we are running from freedom and hiding in a prison cell. Great choice.

What if we chose not to be so busy but rather decided to engage people? What if I didn't bring work home with me? What if I turned off the TV and talked to my wife? and my kids? Is this the life I want my kids to grow up and think is 'normal'? You might think it is easy to write this since we are moving to China soon, and I will have hours and hours of free time a day to engage with the world around me. But it happens there, too. Because this notion of busyness is ingrained in me. Days get more easily filled there. Sure life isn't on as strict a schedule, but if I have to go to the market and then to this other store and ride the bus here and there, it is hours later. Washing clothes, dishes, children all take longer. I can fill my day with busyness and not really get much accomplished. Even going out and meeting street kids can become something to do to keep busy.

The idea of busyness isn't that you are spending time doing worthless tasks. They might be pretty good things to do. A lot of it has to do with where your heart is. Lets try not to escape from the best things we could possibly have.