a workaholic world.
I just read this post yesterday on Plywood People and was SUPER convicted by it! He talks about how in our culture lately it seems like whenever people ask “how are you doing?” the answer is usually something like, “so busy!” “things are great, but just so, so busy right now!!!” and I realized I am SO guilty of this! I don’t know why I answer this question like this – is it to make people think I am important? (which I am CLEARLY not) or that I have way more cool stuff going on in my life than they do theirs? I mean…honestly, I have no idea what triggers the response.
I was telling my small group a few weeks ago that I have felt really strongly that I need to throw the brakes on things BIG time in my life- I HATE having things going every night and feeling like there is never time to slow down and enjoy my family and my friends – and that in slowing things down I felt so much better about things, so much less…busy. Imagine that. Yes – when it comes down to it, I am busy – I work full time, do consulting on the side, teach fitness classes and have a lot more going on – but that shouldn’t define who I am or how I define my life – those ARE things I do, but they are not who I am- and I don’t want to be defined by those things.
So I got home from hanging out with friends tonight and immediately sat down to get some work done. Why the heck did I do this?! I already worked 9 hours today and got A LOT of focused work done – what’s wrong with sitting on the couch watching TV or reading without feeling guilty or like I should be getting things done? Am I doing this so tomorrow I can tell my co-workers that I worked until midnight, or tell some rando this weekend how awesome I am for working all the time. Honestly, I want to get to the point where if I tell someone I worked all evening I want them to call me out on it – I deserve a break, my husband deserves my attention, and the baby that is soon-to-be will definitely deserve my focus as well!
Ok, I need to gather my thoughts here. My challenge to you (and me!) is to redefine how you are prioritizing your life and looking at things. We are ALL busy…whether you work 4 jobs, 1 job or…anything. We all have a lot going for us…no one really cares how busy you are! (are you offended by that?) So next time someone asks you how you are doing, try actually telling them how you are doing and feeling – not how busy you are…it doesn’t make you look cool! And another challenge…try shutting down work/computer/iPhone/email when you get home and ENJOY the fact that you had an incredibly productive day and that all of those emails will still be there at 8 am, and hey… maybe it will help your co-workers find some balance too if you aren’t emailing them every 5 minutes of their life!
Now…go!
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