“Beware the barrenness of a busy life,” said Socrates. When we are rushing from one task to the other, we leave no time for reflection, no time for gratitude on what we have in our lives that enrich us, that build us up, that which makes us whole. But we also leave no time for the people in our lives. Even if we’re rushing around with the people. Say, little people, like our children, bussing them from soccer practice to gymnastics to school to lunch to birthday parties. We say we’re doing it all for them, but are we? Or maybe you’re a corporate climber, constantly bouncing to meetings, smartphone glued to your hand, waiting for the next break, always improving your network and social reach, eyes bugged out, needing to be on 24/7 or else.
Perhaps if we stopped the mad rush of busy, busy, busy and just took more time out for peace, the inner cascade of happiness could rush out like a waterfall, bursting forth all over us like the fountain of youth. We could discover that we like a little bit of quiet or that instead of hearing that shrill noise our phone makes when there’s an update on Twitter, we rather like hearing the love song of a male cardinal in the spring morning. And instead of rushing our children to go, go, go for a schedule we created, maybe we could encourage them to go, go, go hike in the woods with us and teach them the difference between oaks and pine trees. Just maybe. It’s certainly something I’m trying to do in my life. Achieve balance of work and play. Bring more nature in and put the work aside more.
Image: Wikipedia
