Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

I’m pretending that this week’s onslaught of cold weather isn’t occurring and have decided not to mention it in this space. Between the aches and pains that come with the cold, the realization that my favorite recliner chair has turned into the “ugly old guy recliner” that should have been thrown out long ago is enough to make me rethink not moving to Texas when I had the chance.

I’ve been thinking about the word “busy” this week. Such a short word, but one that can bring about so many different responses. Perhaps it motivates you? How many of us have had a boss that told us to “stay busy” or have spent time at work when we were either not feeling the best, or had finished our work and we have spent the rest of the day “looking busy”. I’ve often found myself “getting busy” doing something that I lose track of time or “got so busy” that I forgot to do something I was really wanting to do.

Many times we use the word as an excuse. I “was so busy” washing the kitchen floor that I burnt supper. Or perhaps, my favorite, I “got busy” and forgot that I was supposed to be somewhere on time. Sometimes the excuse works in our favor when we really don’t want to do something; OH, I’m sorry that I can’t attend your party, I’m “too busy”. Another personal favorite has to be, I was “busy” sleeping and missed church.

Busy isn’t always a bad thing though. Sometimes busy can be good. In business most of the time busy is indeed a good thing, unless, of course, you are on the receiving end of that as in; this restaurant “looks busy”, maybe we should find somewhere else to eat? And you and I have both been apologized to for having to wait for something because “this place is busy today”.

What really made me think about it was as I was contemplating the amount of time I spend with my kids compared to the time I would like to. It isn’t a situation where we don’t want to see each other but there are times as the kids grow up that they have activities that take more time. Between sports and school activates and jobs they stay busy in their own world, and if you throw in a boyfriend or girlfriend in the mix suddenly you wonder where all the free time has gone.

Are kids busier today than they were thirty years ago? I’m not sure they are. Are there more things competing for their time? Absolutely. Maybe we as parents are much busier now as well. One thing is for sure that as we both push each other to stay involved, and to try as many different things as possible, we tend to forget the value of learning to manage time and to define priorities. In some ways being busy keeps us out of trouble, but if we spend so much of our time on the go, do we really get forth the effort needed to be successful at any one thing, or are we just spreading out our resources to thin?

I’d come up with an answer for that question, but I’m going to be pretty busy the next few days trying to get things done that I was too busy sleeping through this weekend to have accomplished. And so goes our lives on a day to day basis. See you next week. Remember…we’re all in this together.