The Busyness Disease - And The One Word That Can Cure Your Illness

Thank you my dear friend for the inspiration to write this article…you know who you are.“

I’m so busy. I’m soooo busy.”

How many of you catch yourself saying this all too often? I know I sure as hell do.

The busyness disease inflicts way too many of us. And unfortunately, we own this disease with pride; wearing it like a badge of honour. “I’m busy, therefore I'm a productive citizen, worthy of being acknowledged in this hyper confused society.” You know what I’m talking about.

Busyness and the terrible effect this mindset has on us, is a huge topic. Luckily, today I read an article that simplified it perfectly.

In the article, the author was describing an instance when he ran into a friend at the gym who asked him how he was, and his response was, “I’m busy”. So the friend asked him, “oh, what are you busy doing today”. He wasn’t used to explaining his busyness to anyone, because often, he just received the same response back. So he told this friend all the things on his list for that day: “band rehearsal in the morning, followed by a basketball game for my son, a church commitment for my wife, a birthday party for my daughter, and a date night that evening.” His friend’s response was, "Sounds like a full day. Have fun!"At first, he was frustrated by this reply, thinking, come on give me a break - this is going to be a busy day driving from place to place, rushing to get everywhere on time! Have some pity for me!But a little while later, he had an epiphany.

He realized his type of busy is one that can be controlled. 

And that his life is not actually busy - it’s full.

Wow.I don’t know about you but replacing the word "busy" with “full”, gives me an immediate sense of positivity and fulfillment (as opposed to negativity and heaviness).

This same man went on to say that over the past month, he’s removed the "b" word entirely from his vocabulary - and yes you guessed it, replaced it with the word "full" - and the result is that he feels lighter and more equipped for each day. And now, when people ask how things are going, he replies, “life is full”.

How beautiful. Words are damn powerful.

So I've decided to do the same…and I'm hoping that you'll join me!

Let's give me up these soundbite answers that fly out of our mouths without so much as a second thought; and instead, be mindful of how we're really doing - because is "busy" really ever a suitable answer to the question, "how are you?".

You (and I) don't have to fall victim to the busyness disease; we can gain some perspective on how full our lives are and how the things that keep us "b**y", are actually beautiful blessings - and that in most of our cases, they are things we've chosen to take on -  so let's do so, with a full heart.

Peace, love and full(filling) lives,

Diana