Too Busy for a Break?

Often in the middle of our busy lives it’s hard to remember that we do what we do because of choices we make. It’s true; there are given realities, things we cannot change. People around us have needs and expectations. We need to attend classes in order to pass. Our bodies have needs and limits. But then we take those given realities and we make our choices. I find it gives me a feeling of freedom to know that, while I cannot change the realities, I can change my responses to those realities. Here are some questions that might help you think about busyness in this light:

 What realities am I facing? What choices am I making in response to them? (Take your time with this one. List your answers in two columns.)

 What relationships and commitments am I retaining? At what price to me, and to other relationships and commitments, am I doing this?

 Have my current choices made my life good?

 Is my busyness a temporary response to an unusual situation? Or is this state of busyness where I always seem to find myself?

 Is my life a good model? In other words, do I want the freshmen I know to follow the pattern I am setting?

 What other choices might make the overall picture of my life better and healthier? What would be hard about making those choices? Why?

 If I were my own friend, what would I say to myself?

It might be hard to answer these questions—or even hard to think clearly about them. In the press of the moment, we think we are doing the only thing possible. We also tend to build up justifications for our so-necessary actions. We make them make sense. Maybe the only way to see clearly is to step out of the pattern. So take a Sabbath. Drop your least critical activity, and take the time to reflect. Push back at the busyness and see what happens. Where does it push back on you? See what fears and anxieties arise. Listen to them. Inspect them, because applying a little pressure, beginning to take a hammer to the idol of busyness, may create the place where you can get some honest answers for a change. Then you may see some new realities about yourself—and be inspired to make some new choices.

—Neil Livingstone serves on InterVarsity Staff in the Washington, D.C., area.