“Busy.”
We hear this all the time. It is a common response to questions like, “How are you?” and “How was your day?” What do we hope to convey when we say that we are busy? Do we think we need to appear as harried as everyone else? Is it some sort of band of courage? Do we hope that becoming very busy will somehow carry us through to being not busy? Do we equate busy with productive, successful, or happy? Are we just hoping to avoid speaking about our day, week, or career? Or are we staying busy for fear of what might happen otherwise?
Of course, we may sometimes truly enjoy being busy. It feels wonderful to be atop our game and rocking it.
But saying, “I am busy,” has a weird way of locking us into being busy. It cements the state of busyness in our minds. Unless we are really enjoying it, let’s stop saying, “I am busy,” and start finding alternative things to say that feel great to say.
In your corner,
Mike