Stop and smell the flowers — Farmer's Chaplain

“How are you doing?” I ask. “Been real busy,” came the reply. “How about we catch some lunch in town?” I offer another. “Would love to but maybe next time you’re through; I’m too busy at the moment,” came his response. All too common from folk these days; it’s the hour in which we live.

I have a long-time friend and he reckons our world suffers from an epidemic of hurry sickness. You’ll see the sufferers every time you’re out and about; everywhere from hurried motorists; to shoppers in your local supermarket as they jostle for the closest carpark, or suss out what they perceive to be the quickest queue! 

Maybe it’s further evidence that people are so busy they barely have time to get all their stuff done? Multi-tasking is their ‘normal’.

Personally, I think some are addicted to busy. Like all addicts, they will at first swear they are not addicted, but their schedule proves them wrong. They live life in the fast lane; from drive through coffees in the morning to heat & eat at night; it’s a ‘pedal to the metal’ life!

For sure, I understand farmers have unavoidable busy seasons. I get to do that too. However, there are a couple of hidden nasties with this ‘addicted to busy’ thing I want to put my finger on for you here.

The first is that “busyness equals importance.” I’m busy all the time I must be important, is the thinking. So yes, it feeds your self-worth to be busy. What a poor master to be servant to.

I do not remember where I first heard this, but here is a great truth: “The urgent is seldom important; the important is seldom urgent.” How true!  

We can easily get ourselves immersed in the urgent yet neglect the truly important. Sadly, I have seen the results of that too often over the years.

Here’s another issue with this busy thing; it limits our time to truly think. Thinking things through, quality time with your own thoughts is important. More than just important, I’d say it was necessary for your own wholeness and wellbeing. 

Busyness and rash decisions very often go together. “If only we had taken more time to think this through” is an all too common regret these days.

Our grandparents did much more thinking than we tend to do. They had way more uncluttered time. With no TVs, no laptops, no internet, no cell phones or cell phone games, no Facebook, plus a bunch of other stuff, they used their time much differently. The same minutes in an hour, the same hours in a day, but they spent their time, probably much more profitably.

None of our grandparents ever suffered from nomophobia. Nomophobia is a separation anxiety disorder people can suffer from when they get separated from their mobile phone! Perhaps it does all their thinking for them?

My advice as we wrap this up? Plan your schedule or your schedule will have plans for you! You cannot do busy 24/7, seven days a week, without some very negative kickbacks. It is not healthy for you or your important relationships. So, prise your foot off the pedal and take some slow laps!

One of the reasons people avoid having to think is because stuff from their inner world keeps coming up. So, we shove it back down inside of us with still more … busyness! Not healthy at all!

Now when it comes to getting the intricacies of your inner world sorted, nobody understands us better than the Good Shepherd.

Take some slow laps, and God Bless.

• If you want to contact Colin Miller email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.