Friday night, and I am reflecting back over the week. I heard myself saying, "I'm so busy" more than once this week. And I don't like it. New intention for 2016: I'm going to remove that from my vocabulary. Almost everyone I know is busy, crazy busy, over-the-top busy... we're either addicted to busyness or it's code for something else...like "I'm more busy than you" (as if it were a contest) or "I'm stressed". I've just decided that it doesn't help anything to keep saying "I'm busy" out loud to anyone, least of all myself. It only makes you feel worse about whatever your time is being spent on. And the fact is, even if our busyness is real, it's self-imposed!! We choose what to do with our time.
The best Fridays are the ones when I get asked, "What do you have going on this weekend?" and my answer is, "Nothing special, just messing around." Remember when you were a kid and you had mostly no plans? I hope that was your memory too. Most of my time as a kid was free, unstructured time with no commitments. We were not over-scheduled into a bunch of activities. I had piano lessons once a week for a short time. And I was a Girl Scout. But most days we went outside and figured out what to do, playing or creating games with ourselves and neighbors. Those days seemed endless. I think that kind of time is essential.
I have just two things to do this weekend -- a party tomorrow and picking up a repaired clock on Sunday. And I have a list of other stuff, but maybe I'll get to them and maybe I won't. It's still an adventure, even as an adult, to see what I get into that wasn't even an idea on Friday. Like the list says, "Put away Christmas stuff" and on Sunday night I discover I spent 3 hours hiking at a park with a friend and got some furniture painted, but I'm still looking at Santa Claus on the mantle. It's the wandering that I like. I might still be "busy" but it feels restful, not stressful. So when Monday comes along and colleagues ask, "What did you do this weekend?" the right answer is "I had a huge amount of fun doing things I wanted to," not "I was really busy!"
The best Fridays are the ones when I get asked, "What do you have going on this weekend?" and my answer is, "Nothing special, just messing around." Remember when you were a kid and you had mostly no plans? I hope that was your memory too. Most of my time as a kid was free, unstructured time with no commitments. We were not over-scheduled into a bunch of activities. I had piano lessons once a week for a short time. And I was a Girl Scout. But most days we went outside and figured out what to do, playing or creating games with ourselves and neighbors. Those days seemed endless. I think that kind of time is essential.
I have just two things to do this weekend -- a party tomorrow and picking up a repaired clock on Sunday. And I have a list of other stuff, but maybe I'll get to them and maybe I won't. It's still an adventure, even as an adult, to see what I get into that wasn't even an idea on Friday. Like the list says, "Put away Christmas stuff" and on Sunday night I discover I spent 3 hours hiking at a park with a friend and got some furniture painted, but I'm still looking at Santa Claus on the mantle. It's the wandering that I like. I might still be "busy" but it feels restful, not stressful. So when Monday comes along and colleagues ask, "What did you do this weekend?" the right answer is "I had a huge amount of fun doing things I wanted to," not "I was really busy!"