“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” –Socrates
It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. There’s so much to do, and so much vying for our attention. But busyness is not a virtue. In fact, busyness in our lives can lead to barrenness. We stay busy, but we lose our sense of vitality. We exist, moving from one task to the next, but are we actually living? Which is why it’s so important to pause now and then—to take time to stop and rest, and choose to step out of the rat race.
And even better than resting sporadically, would be to build this into the regular rhythm of our lives. To set aside a pre-determined day or chunk of time to turn off the noise, to disconnect from work, and to enjoy life without worrying about everything else that needs to be done. Because although we may see the value in taking time to rest, unless we decide beforehand when we’re going to do so, we can easily stay so busy that we never actually get around to it.
Ultimately, being busy is not what life is all about. And since this is the case, it’s important that we take steps to keep busyness from squeezing the life out of us. Because if we’re not careful, it will.