I live in a community that has many families. I think the last number I saw it was around 80-85% families. Last night I took a step back and looked around a room of parents and wondered if anyone could look back on their day and find something meaningful (a mark left so that world would know you were alive and contributed) poured out? Busyness is often a mask to hide our lack of purpose and happiness. Despite that, I really believe most want purpose and meaningful pursuits.
One of the areas of opposition is living in an age where we've defined "leaving a mark" down and we've elevated busyness as our substitute. In many ways we feel that a long list of activities produces substance. It doesn't. Enter stage left the mask of hypocrites. We're great actors and actresses. Giving the appearance that all is well and under control. We even have calendars to prove it and make it so. The problem with busy is it wears you down and out. The scary part is found in our belief that the alternative (quality, focused priorities, meaningful work) is not an option.
Look around you, how has all this busyness benefited us?
I'm not here to define what should be meaningful in your life. That's your job to tackle. But here's an acid test to try at the end of your day today:
The things i participated in today were meaningful because_________.
For some help, see my definitions of meaningful:
- Saying I love you consistently
- Time alone with God
- Laughter
- Helping my children answer the tough questions
- Being authentic
- Embacing nature
- Physical exercise
- Family dinners
- Encouraging people through Epic Living (the work within the org.)
- Managing and integrating what I value most into my daily existence
It’s tough for people these days. We live in a culture that doesn’t promote meaningful work. It’s more about activity, winning, competition, and marketing.
Thanks for tuning in.
Very insightful. Sometimes, busy lives led are even used as the parameter for a successful lifestyle, when in fact a busy life mostly interferes with what truly matters in life- family. Thank you so much for this honest and heartfelt blog.
Thanks for the comments and you’re right about the difference between activity and accomplishment.
You are exactly correct. We do live in an age when people often confuse activity with accomplishment. They really are not the same thing. A good leader for example focuses on results not on just completing an activity. So then when you say “leaving a mark” it has to be about the results not just the activities.