The Busy Badge
BY Heather Zollman
Question: Have you ever found yourself in a conversation with someone who, when you ask how they are doing, responds by telling you how insanely busy they are and then goes on and on about their responsibilities and what fills their days to create their “busy”?
Heck, you’ve probably done it. I’m sure I have.
I had someone come up to me recently who said, “Wow, you seem so busy! You are leading retreats and doing all these new things!”
It made me pause. In that moment I didn’t feel overly busy. I responded with something like, “I’m as busy as I want to be. We’re all some kind of busy.”
Which sparked a conversation with a client in the studio. I know this person is VERY busy with work, small children and volunteering. Her days are packed. And yet, she doesn’t talk about how busy she is. She seems to enjoy all of the things she is involved in.
Does that mean she doesn’t have stresses, and dream of nothing more than zoning out and watching a Netflix show to free up her brain a bit while her family is out of the house? Nope.
I asked her point blank, “Do you feel like humans tend to wear busy as some sort of badge of honor?”
Her response, “Absolutely.”
Here’s my thinking, society has set us up to believe that those who appear busy are winning at life.
Let me backtrack here, and say that I am fully aware of different seasons of life being different kinds of busy.
Our children are now 22, 19 and 15 years old. We are out of baby, toddler, elementary, middle school ages and have two in college and one in high school. Our days are not jam packed with sports and art activities like they used to be.
Some things are out of our control, such as…
What we CAN control is…
I pose this, instead of wearing Busy as a Badge of Honor, what if we create our days to add up to a life we are in love with?
How you ask? Pausing and daily habits.
If you wait until the end of your day to take a pause, and then realize you have no idea where the day went…you WILL benefit from adding pauses. Sprinkle them in throughout your days.
If you are thinking, I don’t have time to pause, I CALL BULLSHIT.
That’s right, B U L L S H I T.
Are you a single parent? You have 30 seconds to breathe and notice your shoulders relax as you do.
Do you work for a boss or with coworkers who make you want to scream sometimes? Start setting boundaries with work.
Do you wish you had a deeper connection with your partner? Pause to communicate and enjoy each other.
Are you tight on money? Create adventures in nature. She is FREE, always available and loves spending time with you.
Need a way to release some of what you’re hanging onto? Journal in a notebook or your notes phone app.
Feeling down? Write down 3-5 things you are grateful for, and let yourself FEEL the gratitude.
Quit making excuses and start pausing.
Are you already in love with your life? I guarantee it’s because you are creating pauses in your days to practice things that make you happy and feel like YOU.
If you are giving your days away, letting them slip through your fingers and are not enjoying life, it is time to SHAKE SHIT UP my friend!
This is why I became a life coach. To help people create daily habits that are so incredibly simple, yet hold so much power!
This is why I wrote a book called, “The Power of Pausing,” full of short, relatable stories and ideas to help you create pauses that feel wonderful to YOU!
There is so much life to live.
Do not be the wearer of “The Busy Badge.” It’s not something to brag about, UNLESS you are busy filling your days with things you love. If you are, you won’t feel busy, you will feel fulfilled.
There is no winner of the “Busy Badge,” so stop competing for it. For real.
Pause, be, sprinkle in things that make you happy and ENJOY YOUR LIFE.
I promise the daily habit of pausing will leave you feeling empowered and a little more in control of the tone of your days. And who wouldn’t love that?
Want help in creating pauses? I got you. Message me.
Be Inspired, Enjoy the Journey & embrace the PAUSE!
Question: Have you ever found yourself in a conversation with someone who, when you ask how they are doing, responds by telling you how insanely busy they are and then goes on and on about their responsibilities and what fills their days to create their “busy”?
Heck, you’ve probably done it. I’m sure I have.
I had someone come up to me recently who said, “Wow, you seem so busy! You are leading retreats and doing all these new things!”
It made me pause. In that moment I didn’t feel overly busy. I responded with something like, “I’m as busy as I want to be. We’re all some kind of busy.”
Which sparked a conversation with a client in the studio. I know this person is VERY busy with work, small children and volunteering. Her days are packed. And yet, she doesn’t talk about how busy she is. She seems to enjoy all of the things she is involved in.
Does that mean she doesn’t have stresses, and dream of nothing more than zoning out and watching a Netflix show to free up her brain a bit while her family is out of the house? Nope.
I asked her point blank, “Do you feel like humans tend to wear busy as some sort of badge of honor?”
Her response, “Absolutely.”
Here’s my thinking, society has set us up to believe that those who appear busy are winning at life.
Let me backtrack here, and say that I am fully aware of different seasons of life being different kinds of busy.
Our children are now 22, 19 and 15 years old. We are out of baby, toddler, elementary, middle school ages and have two in college and one in high school. Our days are not jam packed with sports and art activities like they used to be.
Some things are out of our control, such as…
- Unexpected health situations
- Work responsibilities (If we are not self-employed)
- Taking care of our children
What we CAN control is…
- How we approach life
- Our attitude towards our responsibilities
- How we respond to life
- How we choose to spend our free time, no matter how much we have
I pose this, instead of wearing Busy as a Badge of Honor, what if we create our days to add up to a life we are in love with?
How you ask? Pausing and daily habits.
If you wait until the end of your day to take a pause, and then realize you have no idea where the day went…you WILL benefit from adding pauses. Sprinkle them in throughout your days.
- Wake up 5 minutes earlier to sit and breathe
- Sit and ENJOY your cup of tea or coffee
- Move your body in a way that feels JOYful to YOU
- Look at or be with nature
- Read
If you are thinking, I don’t have time to pause, I CALL BULLSHIT.
That’s right, B U L L S H I T.
Are you a single parent? You have 30 seconds to breathe and notice your shoulders relax as you do.
Do you work for a boss or with coworkers who make you want to scream sometimes? Start setting boundaries with work.
Do you wish you had a deeper connection with your partner? Pause to communicate and enjoy each other.
Are you tight on money? Create adventures in nature. She is FREE, always available and loves spending time with you.
Need a way to release some of what you’re hanging onto? Journal in a notebook or your notes phone app.
Feeling down? Write down 3-5 things you are grateful for, and let yourself FEEL the gratitude.
Quit making excuses and start pausing.
Are you already in love with your life? I guarantee it’s because you are creating pauses in your days to practice things that make you happy and feel like YOU.
If you are giving your days away, letting them slip through your fingers and are not enjoying life, it is time to SHAKE SHIT UP my friend!
This is why I became a life coach. To help people create daily habits that are so incredibly simple, yet hold so much power!
This is why I wrote a book called, “The Power of Pausing,” full of short, relatable stories and ideas to help you create pauses that feel wonderful to YOU!
There is so much life to live.
Do not be the wearer of “The Busy Badge.” It’s not something to brag about, UNLESS you are busy filling your days with things you love. If you are, you won’t feel busy, you will feel fulfilled.
There is no winner of the “Busy Badge,” so stop competing for it. For real.
Pause, be, sprinkle in things that make you happy and ENJOY YOUR LIFE.
I promise the daily habit of pausing will leave you feeling empowered and a little more in control of the tone of your days. And who wouldn’t love that?
Want help in creating pauses? I got you. Message me.
Be Inspired, Enjoy the Journey & embrace the PAUSE!