The Folly of "Keeping Busy."

I was in line in the post office. A 30-ish blonde walked in and saw a friend in line. "How's it going?" she asked. "Keeping busy" the other woman said.

This made me think of how many times I've said that exact line. And now I ask myself, why do we think keeping busy is a good thing? Maybe it's the old Puritan belief, idol hands attract the devil or some such nonsense.

But are we keeping busy with work we love, with hobbies we enjoy, with people we cherish? Are we suffering through a job we hate? (But I have to make a living, you say. Doesn't everybody? Yes, but your choice of jobs is, well, your choice.) Are we filling our "free" time with endless errands and trivial pursuits? Are we going places just to hang out with "people" where we chat on and on about nothing?

In other words, being "busy" is no claim to fame. It's what we do with our time that matters. And a balance of "busy" and "free time" is necessary for our mental, emotional, and physcial well-being.

I used to be a busy body and was proud of it, but at this stage of my life, the quality of what I do, or don't do, tends to take precedence. I'm primarily focused on the work I love - took me long enough to get here. I spend time with people I care about, with people I can have an honest, open conversation with about topics that we both like. And I enjoy plenty of quiet time - to meditate, to write, to read a good book, and to make myself and my husband healthy, fresh meals. All the busy-ness is having less and less meaning to me. Maybe it's a sign of age, maybe it's an evolution of sorts, but, next time someone asks me "How're you doing?" I'll answer: "Living and loving and enjoying life!"