The Price of Busyness: When Life Forces You to Slow Down
In today's fast-paced world, busyness has become a badge of
honor—a measure of productivity and success. We rush from one task to the next,
barely pausing to breathe, convinced that slowing down is a sign of weakness or
inefficiency.
But sometimes, life has a way of forcing us to stop. Whether
it's an unexpected event, a moment of exhaustion, or a sudden realization, we
are reminded that speed does not always equate to progress.
True fulfillment comes not from constant motion but from
mindful awareness, reflection, and meaningful connections. The price of
relentless busyness can be steep—missed moments, lost relationships, and a life
that blurs by too quickly.
When we ignore the signals to slow down, life may throw a
brick at us, demanding our attention in ways we never anticipated.
Story topics: Busyness, Mindfulness, Awareness,
Compassion
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1.
When ‘Busy’ Became the Default Answer Without
Meaning
In his book Hamlets Blackberry, William Powers tells the
story of a friend from a non-English-speaking background who had migrated to
the United States.
Whenever he asked her how she was, she would inevitably
reply “busy, very busy”. Powers thought this was strange, particularly given
his friend Maria would often applied a very upbeat time. He soon learned why.
Maria was simply copying what Americans sent to each other
when asked how they were doing. She thought it was the way you replied politely
to enquiries about how you are doing.
2.
Waiting for Our Souls to Catch Up
An archaeologist once hired some Inca tribesmen to lead him
to an archaeological site deep in the mountains.
After they had been moving for some time the tribesmen
stopped and insisted they would go no further. The archaeologist grew impatient
and then angry. But no matter how much he cajoled the tribesmen would not go
any further.
The all of a sudden the tribesmen changed their attitude.
They picked up the gear and set off once more.
When the bewildered archaeologist asked why they had stopped
and refused to move for so long, the tribesmen answered, “We had been moving
too fast and had to wait for our souls to catch up.”
Source: based on a story told in the movie Beyond the Clouds
3.
Slow Down Before Life Throws a Brick at You
A number of years back, a young and very successful
executive was travelling down a suburban street in his brand new black jaguar.
Suddenly a brick was thrown from the sidewalk, thumping into the side of the
car.
Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly
spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.
The driver jumped out, grabbed the kid who had thrown the
brick and pushed him up against a parked car. “What was that all about?!” he
screamed. “That’s my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of
money!”
“Please, mister, please …. I’m sorry! I didn’t know what
else to do!” pleaded the youngster. “I threw the brick because no one else
would stop!” Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the
parked car. “It’s my brother, mister,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and
fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Sobbing, the boy asked the
executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s
hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
The mood was transformed in a moment as the young executive
realised what had occurred.
He lifted the young man into the wheelchair and took out his
handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts. He then watched as the younger
brother pushed him down the sidewalk toward their home.
The young exec never did fix the dented side door of his
Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that
someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention.
Source: unknown
4.
The Time Test
Nearly 30 years a study was conducted at Princeton
University, USA, designed to figure out the conditions under which good people
would act for good, or at least be helpful.
Two psychologists asked a group of theology students to walk
to another building on campus to give a short speech, either about their
motives for studying theology or about the biblical parable of the Good
Samaritan. Meanwhile, the psychologists had arranged for an actor to be
stationed on the path between the two buildings, slumped over, coughing and
obviously in bad shape.
The two experimenters had also led half the students to
believe they were late for their speaking appointment, and half that they had
ample time.
So, what do you think the responses were? Who was most
likely to help: those with the story of the Good Samaritan uppermost in their
mind or those thinking about the motives for studying theology? There was a
significance difference between groups, but it was not along the lines of
speech content. The content of the speech made no difference.
About the same number of Good Samaritan speakers and
theology motivation students stopped. What did mid make a difference was how
rushed the students thought themselves to be.
Only 10 percent of those led to believe they were running
late stopped to help. Of those told that they had plenty of time, 60 percent
stopped to help.