Busyness Does Not Equal Success

Glad to see you this week for another edition of “Take It In.” I hope your week is going well thus far. I recently saw a post on Facebook from a friend. It said something alone the lines of being “busy” is not a badge of honor. This thought has such so impact for our current culture. Almost from birth, we are taught to be productive. We go to school, join sports teams, and participate in extracurricular activities.

The rush continues into adulthood, where we scramble to complete degrees, gain certifications and hold jobs (on top of getting married and raising families). While being productive is healthy, there is a fine line crossing over into madness. Being productive means we are accomplishing goals, and contributing something to our surrounding society. Being busy means we have a lot going on and hardly any time to spare. Both are realities of daily life. The two are very different. One uses time wisely to reach goals, another has the goal of using time.

Productivity produces results. However, being busy all the time does not make for a successful life, much less a more fulfilling one. This is even more true if your preoccupation for staying occupied gets out of control. According to the American Institute of Stress (AIS), if your body stays in its stress response mode for extended periods of time, you can experience a breakdown of health. This state of over stress leads to symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, and headaches. Does that sound like living well? I’d say certainly not.

I define successful living as giving the best of yourself to each situation you find yourself in. That means taking care of your relationships, your health, and accomplishing what you want in your chosen vocation. Piling on so many responsibilities that you neglect your loved ones, your neighbors, and yourself does not put you on a higher level. In the words of Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 16:26, “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?”

Is a possible promotion worth a distant relationship with your friends? Is it worth growing apart from your spouse, or your kids? The answer is a resounding “No.” Time is something we can not earn nor ever get back. Do not put all your precious time into staying busy in skewed aspirations of career success. The rest of your life will suffer in ways you would never want.

There is one last layer I want to pull back. Do not let your fear of closeness or anxiety over conflict in other areas of your life drive you to stay “busy” as a cover up. I see it a lot. It hides underlying issues that must be confronted to get resolved. I implore you today to evaluate your life and the direction its headed. Are you “busy” just so you don’t have to deal with other issues? Are you so consumed with having success that you neglect to live successfully? Think carefully. Please share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section, I’d love to hear them. Take care of yourselves, and see you all next week.