How being busy all the time stole my joy

Life Lesson courtesy of Being Busy:

After my recent extended illness (#Super Flu kicked my ass), I made a life-altering observation about how I operate. I realized how being busy all the time stole my joy.

Despite all the negative aspects of illness, it does bring clarity about your well-being…if you’re willing to listen.

Read on for a Baby Step reminder I now use to stop making excuses and start making memories. Maybe it can help you, too.

(#slow down!) Image created by Deb Plotkin

After all, I got sick for a reason. And, since I know all aspects of my being (body-mind-heart-Spirit) work together, it made perfect sense that one naturally affects the other.

My body may have felt weak, but my Spirit seemed to perk up. It was sending an urgent message and demanded to be heard. I experienced something beyond an epiphany.

While I was lying there feeling miserable, I had a revelation.

LESSON

Here’s what I learned:

I was taking my precious, limited time on this planet and wasting it on meaningless tasks, pointless thoughts and useless emotions. And, yes, while all emotions are valid, staying stuck in the ones that do not generate well-being and peace and - dare I say - happiness, are not nearly as useful to my existence as those that do.

You see, I was actively avoiding my own joy, and I was using the excuse of being busy as a way to justify it.

So, while my body was literally feeling sick and tired, my Spirit was metaphorically feeling sick and tired. My inner voice was imploring me to do something wonderful…for myself.

Meanwhile…

While I was recuperating, I spent a bit (a lot) of time scrolling. I saw a video that really drove this message home. It was a little girl attempting to play soccer. And when she missed the ball at practice, she turned and did several flawless backflips instead.

Don’t we do that, too? Haven’t we tried to play a game we’re not good at just for the sake of having a game to play?

Meaning we take a job for the money but our passion lies elsewhere. Or we settle for something lackluster when it’s nowhere near close to what’s on our vision board. Or someone else tells us what we’d be good at but we end up sick and tired instead of excited and energized. Or we’re just scared we’ll step on some toes or disappoint a well-meaning loved one. Or maybe we’re just afraid to be seen doing a backflip so, instead, we waste years and rack up countless injuries learning how to score a goal.

Either way, we don’t get to experience that delicious sense of comfy, cozy contentment.

Now I’m not saying to quit your job and join the circus. But maybe, just maybe, we can carve out a bit of time in our day to do the things we love. And, who knows? It may slowly and steadily turn into something bigger and better (#Baby Steps).

Because whether or not we embrace the golden opportunities Life has to offer, time still marches on. So, ten years from now we’ll still be ten years older. But will we be ten years happier, too?

BABY STEP

So if you’d like to join me on that journey, then grab an index card and hang this short and sweet Baby Step on your fridge:

Without excuses and without fail, I Baby Step my way toward my JOY each day :)

And, remember this about J-O-Y: There is Just One You.

Your joy is specific to you. So figure out what that is and get busy doing it.

PS Even one minute counts!

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