On Being Full

I've decided to follow through with a conviction I had a while back: to stop using the word busy.

What does it mean when one says he or she is busy? For me, I find that I tend to use the word in the form of a complaint. For others, that might not be the case.

Busyness does not always indicate being productive. You can busily avoid things in life you need to deal with, people you need to talk to, or truly important things you need to accomplish.

Being busy simply means you are filling your time. But being busy in and of itself does not mean you are making a difference.

This post isn't about encouraging others to give up the word 'busy,' rather it's about my use of the word. Instead of saying, "I'm so busy this weekend!" which, for me, often has the underlying meaning of complaint about all I have to do I'd rather say, "I have a really full weekend ahead of me."

Does it really mean anything if you just substitute another word for busy? For me it does. By saying my life, schedule, day, etc. is full gets me to thinking about opportunity, not obligation. When I focus on being busy I feel that I am performing obligations. When I focus on life being full, I focus on the opportunity I have through doing the things I need to do.

This may not work for everyone, but I find for me that my thoughts have a strong influence on my mood and attitude. By doing something as simple as redirecting the nature of my thoughts I find myself naturally more optimistic, ambitious, and light-hearted.

I think there's a reason God's Word speaks so much about our thoughts. But that's another post for another day.