The Spirit of “Busyness”
April 27, 2009 by Joe Gigantino
“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
“I don’t have time – I’m too busy.” “There are just not enough hours in the day.” Sound familiar? I’ve often thought about counting the number of times I’ve heard people refer to some aspect of their lives as “busy.” Of course, with all the people I interact with directly each day, whether by phone, in person or online, I’m sure I would lose count very quickly! What is it about that word that we seem to always feel the need to include in our vocabulary? Do we use it to validate our actions or our lack of actions?
The truth is, and we’ve all heard it – everyone seems to make time for the things that are most important to them, or is that entirely true? Your family is important, right? What about your job? I’m sure we would all agree on the importance of those things, yet often we neglect the very people closest to us – whether it is a parent, child, sibling or even spouse with all of our other “busy” activities. We assume they will always be around, and take them for granted, while we place our priorities elsewhere. We become toxic in our own relationships with the very people we should be nurturing.
What about your job – very important, right? This is an understatement in this job market! However, many employees spend so much time talking about how busy they are in the workplace that the time they spend complaining could be used to be productive, thereby increasing the bottom line of the company and contributing to their own job security.
Now let’s talk health. Many people, especially those who have never experienced a debilitating illness, just keep trucking along thinking they don’t really need to take the time to nurture their health. They may count on their “good luck genes” to get them through. No matter how wonderful your genes are, there is good chance that a time will come when your health may be challenged, and then it may or may not be too late to turn things around.
Life is about balance, and maybe as you are reading this, a cord is being struck in you and you’re realizing that you have busy with the wrong things in your own life. Yes, there is definitely a “spirit of busyness” running rampant in our society, but I believe that today can be a day where you draw a line in the sand. Nurture your relationships by giving and receiving love, practicing gratitude, forgiveness and acceptance. On your job, work like it’s the day before your vacation. (I once heard Zig Ziglar say that.) Think about how hard you work to make sure everything is in place before you set out to leave on holiday. If we worked with that kind of productivity daily, imagine what could be accomplished!
Lastly, treat your body like the temple it was created to be. Nourish it with whole foods and nutritional supplements and exercise! An investment in a fitness program will not only make you look and feel better, but can also help you become a better mother, father, parent, spouse or even employee! I want to motivate you to become a better you. Let me know how I can help, or are you too busy?
Enthusiastically,
Joe Gigantino Jr.
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Great Blog
I think there is something behind of “Im too busy” phrase. I see 2 options:
1. person try to find excuse not to work out because he is lazy and not ready (how he/she thinks) to spend so much time and get sweating in the gym. And also sometimes they are scared to start because they don’t know anything about fitness and all those “scary” machines around.
2. he is not educated enough about the fitness lifestyle and fitness in general.
So I think that sales team have to be very educated and trained to work with “Im too busy” and other objections.
Glad you liked it Jackie… there’s more to come!
Great comments Leila… thanks for your input!
- Joe G.
Joe – Boy…you got me here. I know we tend to make time for what we “want” to make time for. You are so right about putting exercise off once we get home. I know for me – when I get home – I do what needs to be done before I “stop” for the evening – because once I do, that’s it.
Thanks for the motivation – and I definitely have got to get back at it!
A good friend of mine once said, “Don’t waste major time on minor things,” and I appreciate that comment so much more now.
Like Leila said, I think I have been afraid of failing, so I just procrastinated. Now that I’m on my way to a healthier me, I find that I have to work to constantly keep myself motivated.
I also agree with you that practicing nurturing thoughts and deeds will come back to me in my life.
Thanks for the inspiration!
I could not have said it better myself. Your body is your temple and more should keep that thought with them throughout the day.
Garbage in, garbage out right?
That is good information