Sooo Busy

I have had a couple of friends post comments lately on the subject of “being busy”. It caught my attention. I hear it all the time – heck, I think I even say it without thinking sometimes. It’s almost a knee jerk reaction for people. We ask “How are you?”. The answer, “Good, just sooo busy”. Have you ever used “I’m sooo busy” as an excuse to avoid a friend or family member? If we’re being honest with ourselves, we could all probably answer yes to this at least once in our lives. It’s sad. Maybe you were you actually busy? That’s possible – we really are busy on some days! Not every day.

The term “I’m sooo busy” got me thinking about relationships. I think with relationships there are code words we use with each other instead of just being direct, because we don’t want to hurt the person’s feelings. In today’s crazy social media world, there are so many ways to communicate with a person that the whole “I’m sooo busy” seems like a flimsy excuse to use when you don’t want to spend time with someone. Yes, there are times when our lives seem to pile up with obligations from significant others, kids, family members, other friends or work that make a weekly get together seem stressful. But even during those times, why not just be honest and specific. For instance, just say “I have this going on this week, but I would love to catch up so let’s reschedule something for this date/time”. Sometimes I get “I’m really not avoiding you I’m just sooo busy.” When someone starts off a conversation like that, my first reaction is to think, “well, if you aren’t avoiding me then why would you say that you aren’t?”.

I’m starting to feel like the whole “I’m too busy to get together” or "I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you, I'm just sooo busy" is really just  a lie said out loud, as a way to deflect from the truth, which is “I just don’t want to spend time with you”  or "I don't want to answer your email". And you know what, it’s really okay if you don’t want to spend time with me, or if you don't want to answer an email about how you're doing – just say that. Let’s all stop glorifying the term “busy” and start paying attention. Let’s not be sooo worn out with life and sooo bogged down in our “busyness” that we use it as an excuse to be unaccountable to people in our lives. Being “sooo busy” is mostly a poor excuse for organizing and prioritizing time. When you want to make someone or something a priority – you do. It’s amazing! Working, children, date nights, reading, church, mothering, wifeing…these are all privileges not chores. Let's enjoy them!