Everyone is busy, right?
“Busy” is a common notion – so common that saying
“We’re keeping busy” is similar to “The sky is still blue.”
It’s like it goes without saying. Oh, but it’s still quite loaded. Depending on the context, “busy” means many things:
If I am busy, then I’m
productive
prosperous
a good husband/father
successful
industrious
But if you are busy, then I might be implying you’re
too busy for your spouse/kids
harried
disorganized
neglectful of what’s really important
Or, I might be trying to get out of things: “I’d love to, but we’re so busy right now.”
My favorite: people who know that “busy” is only an equalizer, and not a differentiator, and head toward the new phrase:
“Oh, yeah, we would, but we’re just CRAZY busy right now.”
Come on. The word is loaded. Let’s stop using it.
Never mind how someone from 2 generations ago would have quite a laugh at our current definition of busy.
I know a leader who purged the word from her vocabulary. She does a couple things:
-Ensures that she is generally doing what’s needed for herself, her work, and her family, staying involved, but without over-committing.
–Never says “busy.” Never asks anyone if they are “busy.” Never responds “yes” when asked if she is busy. Instead, she says things like
“Well, it’s a heavy schedule this week, but it’s never like that for long.”
“Actually, no. Things are in balance right now.”
“Hm, haven’t thought of it like that – we’ve got a few things going on, but all stuff we want to do.”
She says the discipline of removing the word, and refusing to live in a way that cries out for the word, has created more mindfulness, peace, and “enjoying the moment.”
Though, if you were to see her calendar, you’d think “Wow. She is CRAZY busy.” But she rarely seems harried.
Give it a shot – stop saying, and responding to, “busy” for a few weeks and see what happens.