“I’ve been so busy lately…”
“I just don’t have any time…”
These are probably two of the biggest lies that we tell on a regular basis. This is because there is no good counter argument to it. If you want someone to stop harassing you about something these phrases are instant conversation stoppers because we can all identify at one point or another with that feeling of frantic panic when we’re short on time for something. We have all used this excuse at one point or another – legitimately or not. But there are people who say this constantly, and I just don’t believe it. It’s a load of garbage. Yes, I’m calling you a liar. And it’s generally very flaky people who use this excuse to the extreme. Flakiness must take up a lot of time it seems. With some people I hear it so much, I just stop talking to them because I don’t want to hear the lie again.
What it truly means is that whatever it is we don’t have time for, we simply don’t see it as a priority in our lives… that it is not worth our time and attention. And, yes, time is a very valuable thing. Each moment we have, we can not get back once it passes. But I think we should really be honest with ourselves. If it mattered, we’d make time. Everyone in the world has exactly 86,400 seconds in their day ( +/- 3600 seconds twice a year for us non-Arizona Americans). No one has any less or any more than another. It’s what we fill those seconds with which tell us where our hearts are.
So why are we “busy”? I really don’t think it’s a state of being but rather a state of mind. It’s what we become when EVERYTHING becomes priority number one. We live in a country where we are told we can “have it all and then some.” Well, I’m here to say that is a complete lie. We can not have it all. We can not have great monetary wealth and complete compassion. We can not burn the midnight oil at work 80 hours a week and keep our family home fires lit. We can not run with the foolish hedonists and walk with the wise sages. We can not have all the world in the palm of our hand and Christ in the center of our hearts. We can not have it all – we should not want it all.
So what are we so busy doing? That is the question, my friend. Is everything marked ‘urgent’ on your to-do list? Why? And… who really cares?
i didn’t coin the phrase, but i believe that it’s called “the tyranny of the urgent”. we live in an instant society… instant coffee, fast food, where huge family problems are “solved” in a 30 minute TV show. the urgency is endemic to our society, and in many ways we subscribe to the philosophy whether we are cognizant of it or not. “we want it, and we want it yesterday!” i agree… we can’t have it all materially, and agreed, we shouldn’t try to have it all.
Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourself treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” < P>
hmm… where is our treasure?
p.s. don’t forget about certain counties in Indiana…. they don’t observe daylight savings either.
Don’t hate nathon. 😛
I agree, Clayre, no one should hate Nathon. People should love Nathon.