Thursday, September 17, 2009

BUSY and CONTENT?

It seems that many of our conversations these days center around how BUSY we all are. It has always bothered me when people go on and on about how crazy their life is... I mean, really! There is an implication that...a busy person is an...important person. On the other hand, I am so inspired by those people who are SUPER busy and never speak of their busyness. I see it as an act of humility. Whatever you call it, I admire the self control that it takes to avoid talking about it.

It is certainly true that we are all very busy and I do my fair share of complaining about the busyness of life. So...it is good for me to hear what other people are busy with, because I sometimes think that no one could possibly be busier than ME!! I think that God is constantly reminding me that I am NOT the only busy person in this world. I'm convinced that most people think that there is no one busier than them. I think that God is maybe trying to tell me, "Yes, you do have a busy and complicated life Mary, but take a look around! You are surrounded by many, many people who are struggling to keep their heads above water... TOO. Slow down, take a deep breath and try to enjoy the day!"

I am constantly working on being a grateful and content person. It's pretty hard because basically...I want it all!! Part of that journey for me is not focusing on the things I didn't accomplish today. There is SO much to do and SO little time to do it. It has meant lowering my expectations. But wait! I tell my kids all the time that all I expect is their best. Maybe their best is not being THE best. Maybe my best is not being THE best. Maybe I need to lower my expectations of myself. It's hard for me. What will people think?

I have a really busy day. They are all really busy days. But here I sit, writing about how busy I am! What am I thinking???!!! Actually, I need to go get something done! Wow! Did any of that make sense???

God, help me to accomplish the things that are most important and not to worry about the rest. Help me to see the good things in my children and not only their flaws. Help me to appreciate people. Help me to cut myself some slack and be content in spite of a busy, busy life. Help me not to complain because...that is not the kind of person that I want to be!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It can be hard to cut ourselves some slack. Darn Protestant work ethic. At what point in time do we forget that God created us to enjoy both him and his creation? Thanks for this post. A good reminder for me to keep my grumblings in check.

Aaroon

Miss said...

Great post!

The interesting thing is that for me, I HATE when people say how busy my life is! =) haha...I DONT like to be busy b.c that is when I don't do a good job at anything. I feel insulted when people say how busy I am =)

Julie Swenson said...

Sometimes I think I am busy and then I look at my single-mom friends who have a job and I think, "Shame on you!!". I am busy because I have chosen to be busy. I could cut all of the "busyness" tomorrow if I so chose. They are usually all elective activities. I will not complain, I will not complain, I will not complain, I will not complain.....