The paradox of being "busy"

We live in a society where being "busy" is acceptable and completely the norm. In fact, when a person is not busy the common judgement and attitude of that person is one of sympathy. Since when is being "busy" everything in this day and age?

The truth is that we base our lives off of how busy we are. How many meetings and how much we have to do seems to guide our entire being. We sometimes get so caught up by how much we have to do that we end up completing nothing at all besides stressing what needs to be done.

I think many of us students can sympathize with this notion and commonly find ourselves procrastinating as a result. The classic syndrome encompassing the students' life, where the more you have to do, the less you actually complete.

Therein lies the paradox. Are we actually as busy as we think we are?

Some wise man once told me that if you leave it to the last minute, it only takes a minute. While this is true, is it a way to govern your life? Should you stress over what all you need to do instead of living in the present?

I have to look to the rest of the world for answers on this one. Take Europe for example, the land of the mid-day nap, sit down coffees and Sunday closures. Over there it is acceptable to take a few hours off in the afternoon to have a coffee, relax with friends or even have a little siesta. Sundays are reserved for church and family time and coffee shops with to go cups? Good luck!

Through my extensive travels throughout Europe I began to really appreciate the way of life that is the European way. Families live on the same land that has been inhabited for generations and businesses are passed down through the family. The general attitude of laid back Europeans is a work to live atmosphere as opposed to the live to work attitude of North America.

Never will you see coffee shops with only stay in mugs and very rarely will you come across a restaurant that doesn't have food available as to-go orders.

We, as a society live on the principal that we are extremely busy, and our consumption methods commonly reflect how busy we are as well. Time is of the essence and we expect everything to be served immediately, and the efficiency of our days governs how much or how little time we have to stress over.

It's no wonder that the prevalence of stress born health disorders is increasing at an alarming rate in North America. It's because we stress over "time" and how little of it we have.

I turn to this famous quote by Lao Tzu for wisdom:

I am awed by the truth in those words, but alas I have no time to understand how applicable they are to my life as I have so much to do!

The paradox continues.