Addicted to Being Busy

 Addiction  (Being out of Balance): 
Addiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, sugar, etc,) or engages in an activity (e.g., gambling, sex, shopping, workshop junkie, over exercising) that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, health, or mental health. Users may not be aware that their behavior is out of control and causing problems for themselves and others.
What we mask by being busy.
Addiction is a numbing behavior. We use numbing behaviors to shut out feeling our feeling and which can make one feel vulnerable. And lest you think numbing doesn’t apply to you, because you’re not hooked on cocaine, pot, sugar, tobacco, or alcohol one of the most universal numbing strategies is keeping your self  crazy-busy. People also use self-created "busy" as a way to avoid making time for healthy behaviors: meditation, eating well, exercise.  I often say that when they start having 12-step meetings for busy-aholics, they’ll need to rent out football stadiums. We are a culture of people who’ve bought into the idea that if we stay busy enough, the truth of our lives won’t catch up with us. Somehow we’ve normalized—we even praise—busyness addiction. But are we really doing ourselves any favors by staying so busy? 

Facing The Truth
When one suddenly has more down time,  one can find one's self faced with the time to reflect upon the quality of life. But facing one's life isn’t always so pretty. When one gets off the hamster wheel of busyness, you can be forced to notice what comes up when you are not busy.
What's left in the silence are the things you don’t necessarily want to look at:
Like a flailing marriage.
Or feeling shame for missing out on some of your child’s sweetest childhood moments because you are so busy
Or being uncomfortable] with feelings of boredom.
Or discovering how afraid you are of being ordinary.
Or how you tend to feel unworthy and unlovable unless you are overachieving or trying to win praise from others.
Or the fact that your parents aren't getting any younger and you don’t get to see her very often, and you wonder if you are unconsciously pulling away from her because you are terrified of losing her one day so you practice what psychology would call “dress-rehearsing disaster.”
Or how uncomfortable you are with realizing that, although a lot of people online care about what you have to say, you are not very good at cultivating and sustaining lasting relationships with real people who really know you and love you.
Or how restless you feel when you are not making your self feel more worthy by doing something to help others (compulsive healing/helping even when others don't want it or your own life is a mess).
Or how lonely you often feel, even when surrounded by a crowd of people.
Using busyness to numb the feelings of vulnerability that accompany the unsettling truths about one's life sadly usually an acceptable addiction that is often not identified or treated.


Making Peace With Inaction
Who would you be if you were okay with doing "nothing" for hours on end? Even scarier, what truths would you  have to face that you can effectively avoid facing when you are crazy busy? We miss out on the kind of profound peace and contentment that every Spiritual Path talks about no matter what religion.  It’s compelling, that kind of peace. It draws you in, makes you crave more, and jolts you awake so that you don’t want to miss out on life by filling yourself with crazy busyness.
But then, you lose it, like a greased watermelon. And the pain of its loss tempts you to fill up your schedule again, so you’re not faced with the longing of what you have touched but can’t sustain.

Challenge your self.  Make time for Meditation. Be brave and strong. Allow the Silence to take you to a higher place even if it means facing your Demons. You will not be Alone. Spirit will be with you always. But you must open the door. You must invite Spirit and Silence into your Life.






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