Too Busy
I’m not normally one to preach on here. Mostly because there’s plenty of other people out there that will say things far more thought provoking than I would, and on the flip side of that, I don’t think so highly of myself that I need to make this blog any sort of authority in your life. That being said, there is one thing I have wanted to mention for a while now, and ironically haven’t had the time to sit down and hash it out.
Growing up I never really noticed it, but the older I get the more I realize that people are quite honestly too busy to care. To care about people, to care about community, to care about anything but what they are doing causing them to be busy. Whether it’s a job, a charity, a project, or something as simple as living day to day. And to be honest with you, I fall in to that too. I get too busy to care about other people. Sometimes I even notice myself getting too busy to even really take the time to focus on my family. And that’s crappy.
Dad’s, are you too busy working or advancing your career that you forget to spend time with your kids? Church’s, are you too busy making sure your Sunday runs smooth that you forget to connect with the people walking in the door? Mom’s, too busy checking off your ‘to-do’ list to make sure that you’re spending time enjoying your family? Friends, are you only interested in hanging out if there’s some project to accomplish?
This is something that Kristin and I have talked about a lot over the past few months, and I’ve sort of just been chewing on it for a long time. When Kristin and I first got married we would have people over all the time to just hang out. Nothing else. There was no purpose, no objective, no projects that needed to be done. We just enjoyed hanging out. A community. Now the older we’ve gotten, the busier we’ve gotten and quite honestly, since we have moved from California, we’ve noticed that people just don’t seem to want to hang out if there isn’t something to accomplish. It seems like if there isn’t a reason to ‘hang out’, no objective, no one is interested. Is it like this with everyone? Is this how adults operate? Something we’ve just got to get used to? A southern thing? Or it’s possible I’m just crazy.
What do you think?
yes, yes yes… it’s a serious issue in my life, in many … too busy.
My wife and I were talking about it Saturday, yet we ask ourselves, what do we cut?
With 4 kids, their after-school activities and sports, you hate to say “no you can’t play soccer”, or “no, you can’t play football” because it makes mom and dad so busy.
Truth is, I think folks like us work all day, get off after 5, then jump head first into football practice, soccer practice, baseball practices, piano lessons, dance lessons, etc …. only to get home past dinner time, pushing past bedtime, only to do it all over again.
But maybe these activities with our kids aren’t necessarily as much the issue as the fact that over the years, we, as adults, have increasingly “worked more”.
When exactly did “full-time” become a 40-hour work week? Nobody is working “9 to 5″ as Dolly sang these days.
You are thinking up the right tree. In my present “jobless” situation in this present job market I have quite enjoyed my time at home. It has been nice spending some time with the girls. Having the ability to just stop for a minute to patch a bicycle inner tube or kick the soccer ball in the yard for an hour, or to just be silly and wrestle. These are some things that I didn’t do that much when I was working… because I was just to busy.
Life is about priorities. Some folks have them aligned properly while the majority of us probably don’t. I also believe that we have allowed ourselves to be harnessed by technology rather than being freed by it. And I’m as guilty as the next guy.
Just my $0.02.
Our schedules have become too full for living life.
Its funny that you posted this as my hubby and I were just talking about how we used to hang out more. We would get together almost every weekend with his brother and wife. Its sad to say but its been months since we have seen them. Life just gets busy and next thing you know there is no free time. I wish it were different because I miss the good times we would share together. Between working, housework, yardwork, preparing meals and the after school activities there is no extra time. We are usually exhausted afterwards and then its time for bathes and bed. That’s one of the reasons I am so looking forward to retirement. Only 6 years, 5 months and 1 day till that day.
Brody, your thoughts are shared by many of us (even more so I can say by those involved in any kind of ministry work). It seems that “doing the stuff” that everyone else needs us to seems to replace family time or spending it with those we love. It is a sad rut that we get ourselves into and personally, I wish I could find a way to alleviate some of the “to do” items and be able to focus more on my family, and less on the demands of the world. I think perhaps this is one of the items that Satan uses to keep us away from living out an intentional Ephesians 5 and 6 life-style; which is what God has called to do – FIRST.
It is all about balance … but I personally confess that finding that balance seems to be most difficult. Well posted, my brother — thank you for the challenge.
I miss just hanging out for the sake of hanging out. I do think when you “grow up” (get married, the kids come along) things change. Tonight someone asked me, “Didn’t you used to…” Yeah, I did. But that seems like a lifetime ago. I’m not thrilled with my priorities at the moment, but if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that tomorrow is a new day to make new decisions that can change the course I’m on. Great thoughts, Brody!
Wow as your Dad I am very proud of your insight. I thought that to busy to care was a California thing. Ifind as I get older people are more important but I find I have less time. Thank you for the reminder to focus on the important and not the urgent.
I’m proud and thankful that our church promotes community among its members – spending time with the people in your neighborhood. In NYC, the irony is that it’s very easy to keep to yourself in this city of 8 million.
We are our friends try to establish regular times to just hang out and get to know each other better. We want to get to that level of friendship where we can get together spontaneously instead of having to plan a week in advance.
It takes a lot of work to just hang out, but it’s worth it!
Just last night as I was walking out of Walmart this older gentleman and I starting talking. He asked if I knew him because I has smiled at him as he was talking with someone else and I told him no I did not know him. We stood at the doors as he told me about his grandchildren,etc and then we walked thru the parking lot together and he told me a couple of cute jokes and as we parted he thanked me for escorting him to his vehicle. Isn’t that what life is all about, moments with other people and the memories of them. Looking other people in the eye and smiling and saying hi, sometimes that is maybe all that person needed for that moment and sometimes maybe more as the old man & I shared last evening. Nothing special in and of itself but a few moments to stop and listen to someone else’s story because I cared. Everyone has their own version of busy but that doesn’t mean you let it consume you. Today might be your last day on this earth and I hope you aren’t spending it worrying about tomorrow. Now Is The Time!
Oh this is so so good!
Lord break down our business like cardboard boxes, that we may put them into the recycle bin, where they can be used to glorify You, over and over again!
Thank you for your words Brody – so glad you shared them with us all. Prayers to you and your sweet fam.
hmmm – *busyness*