"Hey Matt, How's it going?" "Good. I've been super busy these past few weeks you know?" "Phew, me too"
Maybe I'm the only one, but it feels that this conversation happens ALL THE TIME. Busyness, it's something that we complain about, yet are in love with. I'll be the first to say that I'm busy...I am. I'm building a nursery, working 40 hours a week, practicing music, playing soccer, playing basketball, dating my wife, preparing to be a father, watching netflix, watching netflix...you get the idea. But why? Why am I so busy...I'll even ask you, are you busy? Why are you so busy?
Maybe your answer would sound a lot like mine...stuff just has to get done. And we'd both be right, stuff does have to get done. But under all of it I fear that there is something much more dangerous, poisonous, and deadly than just "stuff to do." My hope is that through this we can talk about some of the monsters that lie within, and maybe, just maybe become a little more free...(or will that take too much time) ;)
Before we talk about why we're busy, we first need to know if we indeed are busy. Let's first look at something that we all have in common, but that is often undervalued.
At a women's seminar in 2010, Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor of the Huffington Post gave a shocking key to success...sleep. I'm convinced that sleep is one of the most undervalued parts of our day. Doctors recommend about 8 hours of sleep a night. There's 24 hours in a day, which means that for one-third of your life, you are asleep. ONE-THIRD! That's a lot of time.
Sometimes we brag on how little sleep we got, thinking that somehow that makes us more important when in reality you just function at a much lower level. It makes me think about all the pushes for Samsung and Windows products that brag on how great you can multitask (Yes, this is my Apple plug). But in the words of Propaganda, "Multitasking is a myth, you ain't doing anything good, just everything awful." So consider your sleep habits; should you go to bed now, or should you keep reading?
I think we can learn a lot from sleep. In C.J. Mahaney's book, "Humility: True Greatness" he talks about how humbling sleep is. For one-third of our life, we're in a semi-unconscious state (or if you're like me, fully unconscious). There is absolutely nothing we are contributing to the world, no studies being done, no parenting given, no ideas shared. And surprisingly the world continues. I think we need to learn how to sleep better, and I don't just mean buying a nicer pillow or mattress, although there are some good ones out there. I mean looking at how we view our sleep. I used to view it as a waste of time, something that got in the way of everything else that needed to be done. When there was a show that I'm binging on, or something I've procrastinated on, it has historically been sleep that gets cut to make room for other things.
I think sleep hits to the core of some of our fears: That we're not needed. That we're not valuable. That if we don't keep working and showing that we're worth something then we're going to get passed by, overlooked. We believe that all the outcomes in our lives are affected by our intensive labor in each of those areas, and I'm going to have to say that it's a lie. It's a lie that our society tells, and it's a lie that our culture tells. So let me say here, your worth is not defined by your busyness. I'm going to talk about this more in Part 2, but for now let me simply say, you are worth something so much more significant than the amount of hours you put into work, or the hours you put into your studies, or your family, or your church (what, even my church!?), YES! You are not defined by what you do. But do you believe that?
Maybe you have this all figured out, but I sure don't. I always fight to believe that I'm not defined by my accomplishments. So to end this entry, I'd like to leave us with some thoughts and questions to consider. If you have the time, I think they'll be worth your while.
When you are sick, do you feel bad for being a burden on someone else? I know I do. Why?
When have you ever heard someone answer the question, "Hey, What you been up to?" with "Great, I've been resting a lot and getting tons of sleep and doing things I enjoy?" My guess is you're probably judging that answer right now. Do you immediately view them as lazy? (Let me briefly say that work is good and valuable and I believe in working hard, but don't breeze through this question because of this clarification. If you needed clarification then maybe this is hitting to the core...Notice I needed to clarify).
What do you think makes you worth something at the end of the day? End of the week? End of the year? End of your life?
