Not too busy for people

Busy, busy, busy. That word seems to be used by everyone. We're all busy. All the time.

And I think that's a good thing.

I mean, there is a case for a lot more leisure time, and I'm all for it. But I need to be busy, or I start to lose my mind. About one day of doing nada is all I can handle.

That being said, I loath the "busy" that makes us too busy for everyone else.

You know what I'm talking about.

It seems that everyone is always so busy that they don't know how to step back and say, "wow, this isn't as important as catching dinner with my pal S or seeing cousin R who's in town this week and I haven't seen in a year", etc., etc. Instead we say, "Well, H has gymnastics class so we'll be too busy to meet up." Dear God. Yes, I just said Dear God. Is a gymnastics class really more important than spending time with another human being?

No.

Flat out no.

I found myself a year or so ago saying I couldn't visit with a friend who was in town just for a few days because of my kids various activities. When it was all said and done it was a real eye opener for me.

My kids can miss a practice in order to spend time with the people we claim to love. Because by attending their activities as opposed to spending time with loved ones who we rarely see is in fact saying that said activities are more important than said people. And I never want my children to believe that an activity, thing, etc., is more important than another human being.

Does that mean I don't want them to work hard and take pride in their abilities? Of course not! But I want them to know that sometimes it's okay to say, "I'm busy. But my busy isn't more important than you. It will still be there next week. You may not."

It's a fine line to teeter for sure. I want my kids to do what they love - whatever that may be. I want them to work hard and take so much pride in their hard work. But I also want them to know that it's okay to take a break for a day or a week. Especially when it's for the sake of spending time with other people. Because we just don't know how long we'll have those other people around for.

Busy is good. Busy is fun.

People are more important though.