IS being busy all that great?

originally written on April 17 2020

It is April 16th 2020 as I sit in my bed at 2pm on a Thursday writing this to you. No, I have not been in bed all day but yes, I am sitting in bed typing away. Why? Because it’s comfy, there is wifi and I’m inspired (also Chris has the office) and I don’t have anywhere else to be.

On a “typical” Thursday pre- COVID 19 quarantine, I would be finishing my day up at my part time job working at an outpatient Physical Therapy clinic and getting ready to sit in my car for over 45 minutes to go about 5-7 miles. I most definitely hit traffic and I most likely am calling my mom to tell her how another patient yelled at me because either 

A- they were in pain OR

b- they didn’t understand their insurance benefits.

I usually get home and crash onto bed (obviously after taking my pants off--- not a monster) and tune out for an hour before heading back out to workout and teach back to back classes.  All in all, it’s a typical day-- not bad, pretty good in fact. Just busy. I work from 7am to 9pm but like, I have a 3 hour break in the mid afternoon so like all is good, right?

Hustling-- because if you are young and ambitious, that’s what you have to do right? Put in the hours now so you can benefit in 20, 30, 40 years….

Now do not get me wrong here-- I am all for working hard, learning and pursuing life with passion. In fact, I WANT to work (and not just because I am coming dangerously close to not having enough money for rent.) I want to work because I generally really like the career I have chosen and I like helping people.

But, what I don’t want to do?

I don’t want to go back to being perpetually busy, for the sake of being busy. God, even in the first few weeks of quarantine I was so. damn. Busy. I was doing all the things I thought I SHOULD be doing and not taking a step back to do the things I wanted to do.  I thought that by staying busy I was serving my brand new baby-- my Performance and Recovery Center and I was proving I was worthy of being an entrepreneur.  I was not embracing what I had been praying for for weeks, time to rest. A day, a week, a month-- I was looking for a break of any sort yet when it was handed to me on a silver platter, I turned my nose up at it.

And I paid for it. 

My anxiety increased, my stress spots came back, I was sleeping but not feeling recovered, I had a mini meltdown, I threw my hormones so completely off (that I had been working so hard for 7 months to get back on track) that it affected my menstrual cycle and I drank lots of wine.

Now your girl loves herself a nice glass(or two) of Rose BUT using alcohol to cope with stress is an old pattern I thought I ditched a while ago.

I have learned the hard way the extreme physical, emotional and mental toll burn out can take on your mind, body and soul so I “caught” the signs of my perpetual busy-ness before it got too out of hand.  Even though I have experienced extreme burn out before I realized I am still susceptible to it. Even though I left the job that didn’t serve me I realized I could easily send myself into a state of burn out while working for myself. 

Here is the thing, I am all for working hard, putting in the effort and being successful. In fact, I thrive on it….to a certain extent. I love my business and I am so excited to pursue my dreams. So no, I don’t think being passionate is a prison sentence that leads straight to burn out.

I think that the idea that we have to be busy can lead to burn out.

I think that having a full schedule just to say “I am completely booked” can lead to burn out.

I think that being busy for the sake of being busy can lead to burn out.

I think saying “yes” to things that don’t serve us or are out of alignment with our vision can lead to burn out.

I think burnout is real and a big problem for our society.

So, as I sit here in my bed, drinking water and spending time creating, writing and resting I realize that I don’t have to go back to my old normal. I can create a new normal. I can choose to say yes to the things that light me up and I can choose to say no to the things that don’t. And maybe I am writing this blog post for me, so when my business re-opens and I am back in the thick of being a small business owner, I can remind myself that I don’t want to be perpetually busy.

To remind my myself that:

I want to be happy.

I want to be successful.

I want to be fulfilled.

I want to help as many people as possible without putting my own health and wellness in danger.

I want to walk my talk and learn from my mistakes.

I want to feel good.

And I don’t believe that being busy will give me any of those things. So no, I don’t think being busy is all that great.

I think greatness comes from enjoying the little things in life, being content and slowing down but that is a post for another day. I also think there are a ton of reasons we are so busy. I wrote a whole post a couple of weeks ago about some of the reasons I think we are all perpetually busy. You can read it here.

I have so many thoughts on this at the moment but for now, I’ll leave you with this.

We have the chance to change what our “normal” lives look like after this quarantine. We have the luxury of resting right now. While yes, there is A LOT more to it than just slowing down and a lot of us are experiencing negative financial effects of COVID-19, I do believe that we, as a society, can change the way we view success. I believe that as a community we can take a step back from being perpetually busy and enter a stage of being successful and content through hard work, determination and passion that is in alignment with our dreams and goals.

I am ready to #ditchbusy and #embracehappy, how about