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The What If Experience

Explore a new "What If..." question about life each week with some thoughts, some answers and some action steps. Share my journey of personal growth and living in possibility.
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Now displaying: Page 1
Oct 30, 2016

What if you had more free time? What if instead of life feeling like hurtling down a freeway at 75 miles per hour there was space and time for long walks, unhurried conversation and rest. Do you remember what rest feels like? What if the pace of life felt more like an easy Sunday afternoon drive through the countryside. With space to breathe deeply and love richly?

Most of our lives are lived at freeway speed rather than the meandering exploration of ice cream shops and tree-lined back roads. Most of our lives are too busy to take the long way just for fun. Too busy for the kind of moments that rise from delight and curiosity. And too busy to enjoy any of those moments that happen to sneak their way into our schedules. We're too busy for depth in thought and relationships.

We're too busy to live.

In our culture, busy offers itself up as proof positive of a life of importance. Of productivity and meaning. But, we have it all wrong. That's not what busy really means.

Busy means that stress hormones constantly flood your system - I'm talking about a physical thing. And it never stops, so your body is in constant fight or flight mode. It was never intended to stay in that place and it's damaging.

Busy means that the urgent outranks the important.

Busy means that your schedule and commitments control your life rather than you controlling your life.

Here are three things busy is not.

Busy is not a badge of honor.

We parade busy around and display it for others like it's something to be proud of. but it's not. Its not healthy for our emotional life, for our physical well being or for our relationships.

Busy is not inevitable.

Busy is under your control. You can say yes or no to the activities, opportunities and events that come across your plate. You choose the level of busy for your family.

Busy is not an excuse.

Not only is busy as an excuse usually true-ish, but its socially acceptable. Admired even. So, we tend to throw it around a lot, But, it's really not. it's really not true I mean. That thing you're not doing because your busy? It's really not getting done because it's not a priority. The things you really want to get done - your priorities. You'll find a way to do those things. It's not that you're too busy. It's not a priority.

You're not that busy?

If your external world is not that busy, how about your inner landscape? It's easy to chase after addictions, noise and activity to escape from dealing with a soul that's not at ease. A soul that's too busy. It's very easy to create mental and emotional busy-ness to keep from sitting still with who you are.

This Week's Episode Art

The art this week is about all the things we allow to get in the way of living. The basis of this piece, the very first layer is made up of maps. Think of them as the path you should be on. The physical, mental and emotional places you should be present in. But all the bright colorful lines and shapes tend to cover that up. Don't let that happen in your life. Or, if it has, let's untangle that.

I want you to live your life as an expression of who you are. Not as a reaction to every single thing flying by on the highway of our culture and it's expectations. Don't be too busy to live.

If you weren't so busy...who would you be?

Episode Downloads

Coffee Talk Worksheet and iPhone lock screen image

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