Do you ever just want to slow down? Who sold us the bill of goods that busy is to be glorified? Or cool? I’m the fool who bought into the idea when it wasn’t even on sale.
Once, when shopping with a friend, she found a designer necklace she had been wanting, for 50% off. Over the next thirty minutes, she hemmed and hawed on whether to purchase it or not. Did she love it or just like it? We all helped her with the pros and cons of this big purchase, the main pro being that it was currently discounted. The sales lady came over and apologized for the incorrect signage on this cabinet of jewelry, the necklace was actually not on sale, it was full price. I figured this new info would be the decision maker for my friend, and indeed it was.
“I’ll take it!”, she exclaimed.
Which is exactly what I did when I stumbled across the big, beautiful, perfectly lit display of “BUSY!”. I knew it wasn’t a good deal and yet I raced to the checkout counter with full price payment in hand. “I’ll take it!”
Oh, the marketing tricks that have fooled us. We are living with calendars packed to the edges, which is fine as long as we don’t change the posture of our heart to reflect our schedule. Living with “busy” as the posture of your heart is exhausting. And eventually, it will break us. I want to be productive, without the busy. Which requires paying attention to priorities.