Many of us tend to live a harried life. Monday to Friday cursing the drudgery at work and binge holidaying during the weekends. We are on an auto-pilot mode, repeating our actions like programmed machines.
Greg McKeown in his book ‘Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less’ asks “What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance ?” A worthy question indeed. We often love to tell others how busy and hectic our days have been. But of what good is it, when we do not have the time to reflect on our actions and re-calibrate our decisions?
Alan Watts, the British philosopher better known for his attempt at popularizing Eastern philosophy for the Western audience categorically states the importance of living for the present and being mindful. Filling our day with mindless activity might keep us distracted temporarily. However, at the end of the day, when we reflect on our experience, we come face to face with the moot question: How much of my ‘being busy’ led to a sense of fulfilment and joy?
Let’s stop being busy all the time and also telling everybody how busy we are. Our words create our reality. “Much of the secret of life consists in knowing how to laugh, and also how to breathe.” writes Alan Watts. Take that pause to breathe, for, as Gandhiji says, “there is more to life than increasing its speed.”
