When people ask you how you are doing? How work is going? What have you been up to? What is your first response?
Lately, my response has
simply been busy for everything. I’ve noticed that the answer for the vast majority of people I talk to is also “busy.”
It’s almost as though we are all wearing a
special badge of honor and proudly proclaiming our importance to the universe
by being “busy.”
I find myself wondering when
this happened, when we all learned that the best way to live life is to be “busy?"
When did the most acceptable way to spend our time become to be “busy?”
I fear
that my friends and I have begun making being busy our goal in life; being busy
literally seems to be the main part of all of our lives.
Sometimes, it feels like I
am being busy simply to be busy to help cope with life without having to stop
and focus too closely on the changes that have occurred in my life over the last
few months, but I know in my heart and soul that this is NOT what we as
enlightened human creatures are supposed to be doing!
I refuse to believe that we
are here on this wonderful earth simply to keep ourselves busy constantly doing
things that are important or mundane or simply doing things constantly so we
can stake our personal claim on our “badge of being busy.”
We should be building
relationships with others, experiencing life fully with beautiful emotions, travelling
the world (or our backyard, or our minds), creating memories and moments and
even things, helping others have beautiful lives, and doing everything we want
in life.
I really have been “busy”
though. Things have changed a great deal in my life over the last few months.
- I started a new part-time job for 16 hours a week (for those of you who know how Fibromyalgia has affected me –you know this is a big deal!)
- I survived the holidays with my children and family (I always seem to overdo things from November to December)
- I started a new blog call Totally Emily about Blogging, Business, Inspirations, and Everything else that interests me at http://www.totallyemily.com/
- I am still working on the Website/Blog for Fibromyalgia that will be focusing more on information and articles and less about my personal experiences (which is what this blog is about)
- I finished my mini bathroom redo (fixed the shower, replaced plumbing and a wall, replaced molding, painted, added new stuff including shower curtain, rugs, curtains, and added a towel bar)
- I started handling even more around the house, because after 14 years, my husband and I separated. (Eventually, I will probably talk about this, but at the moment lets simply say that I fight hard every day to function at all with Fibromyalgia and could no longer continue fighting to maintain a one sided relationship with my husband who was more interested in partying and hanging out with his friends than being a part of his family.)
- I sent my oldest daughter to IMTA LA 2013 (this involved a level of fundraising that looking back blows my mind that we were able to accomplish)
Throughout all
of this busy-ness, I have lost a bit of inspiration and have been rebuilding
myself and my life over the last few months.
I am delighted to be returning to my more confident and happy self again.
So, I HAVE been BUSY! I bet you have been BUSY too!
Truthfully,
everyone is busy. Busy happens. Life gets busy. We all know it. We all go
through it. We all get caught up in the busy part of our everyday lives,
instead of slowing down a bit and focusing more on the moments and appreciating
the lives we have in the palms of our hands.
Next time someone
asks me “How I’m doing?”; I am going to strive to answer with something more
meaningful than “been busy”. Something like I’m dealing with a lot, but am
still happy and grateful for the wonderful life I have. Or even better I am
living my inspired life!
What will you
say the next time someone asks you? Will
you stick to the socially acceptable response of “busy” or will you actually take
a moment to share something in your life with the person who cared enough to
ask and might actually be appreciative that you care enough to really answer
with a more genuine and honest response?
Great post and you're right, we're all busy. We must stop to share what we really are doing these days instead of just giving the typical response. Thanks for pointing that out!
ReplyDeleteThanks Vanessa!
ReplyDeleteI answer mostly the same way too! How did your daughter do at IMTA 2013? I have often wondered in the last few months. I do hope that you will have a low pain time for the next few months.
ReplyDeleteheather
Oh wow I have Fibromyalgia too and understand this. I am extremely busy and will never let it stop me it may slow me down but it is not going to win. I have been living with it for ten years, so far I am winning.
ReplyDeleteI write about it but try not to let it be the focus of my life but all my followers know of it. I try to take the time to spend with others who are hurting I know what it feels like. Good for you Busy busy Hug B
Hi Heather and Kathy, My daughter did well at IMTA and had the experience of her lifetime. I'm hoping for low pain and low stress the next few months as I "recover" from the last few months!
ReplyDeleteHi Buttons, I'm glad you stopped by! I also am mostly winning with Fibro, although like many people, I have my ups and downs! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI am visiting your new blog. Yes indeed--we are incredibly busy always!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth, Glad you stopped by!
ReplyDeleteI also have the fibro which jumped in with the rheumatoid I've had since I was 27 (now 62). Had fibro for 20+ yrs now as well. Well aware of our fight every day. Unless someone walks in our shoes, they do not understand the pain. Mine seems to be connected to weather, & a little more to stress now. With a great husband that I do have, it is much easier to handle. Like the two spinal surgeries in 4 months, still healing now( last one 12/10/12) he really takes good care of me. As I did for him when he had a quadruple bypass in 2008. I took care of everything here at home; took care of our all our animals, the grass, (6 acres to cut) , cooking, shopping, etc. Then he retired on 3/31/09. That was really good. This is my story.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story! Fibro does seem to be connected to weather, stress, and so forth especially when consdiring flares. Glad you stopped by!
ReplyDelete