Busy = successful. Hip. Cool.
 
Bullshit.
 
Busy = burned out. Tired. Out of balance.
 
At least that’s how it is in my book. I know that it can be almost addicting to fill every minute of my day with being what I consider ‘productive’. But the more I fall in love with life and the sole experience of its beauty, the less attractive ‘busy’ for the sake of being busy is.
 
Recently I have made it my full-time job to observe my emotions and where energy wants to flow in my life. And with that I literally mean ‘FULL-TIME’ – the only thing I am every busy with. Because it’s gotten so clear – when I focus on solving problems, details, stories, little dramas, the more of them keep showing up. And then my life is busy with fixing problems – how boring is that?!
 
Now I’m a total perfectionist artist…so that means I like for things to work, to be beautiful and harmonious – (if possible) at all times. You’re probably smiling. Because we both know that by doing this human-life-thing, the reality often looks rather like the opposite. And the full spectrum of the human experience will give us the ugly, the chaotic, the broken and damaged along with the smooth flow, beauty and harmony. So what do we do then when the former pop up??! Run away?? Believe me, I tried….and they followed me. Every. Single. Time. (And I’ve lived in 5 different countries so don’t waste your time…)
 
So what do I do when the unpleasant comes up?? I STOP.
 
I stop in my tracks. I drop what I am doing. I completely interrupt the pattern.
 
Now you’re probably thinking – that’s a bit unpractical. I got shit to do. I have children to feed, a job to go to, rent to pay, … 
 
I KNOW!! I get it. But I’ve realised so so so many times that when I ignored the stop of flow in my life, the occurrence of contraction, of problems, fear, drama and just tried to go on with my life, suddenly my life would feel…you guessed it… busy. In those moments I feel like I am running after things, chasing them, pushing them, fixing them, carrying them. And I get really, really tired, really fast.
 
So what happens when I stop though? And with stopping I don’t mean running away. I don’t mean neglecting our responsibilities. I mean finding time to connect with my soul. Finding time to hang out with source energy so I can ask it how it wants me to show up. I can ask it to help me figure this out. To give me the patience, the strength, the calmness to show up in these challenging situations.
 
And yes ideally that means taking a day or however long it takes to calm down, spend in nature, nurture myself. But with all that’s going on in my life right now it often means only a moment with nature, a moment laying under the moon, a moment of meditating and lighting a candle, some time to journal and tune in with what is REAL. Having a moment with myself and being honest with the emotions that are arising.
 
That is all it takes to invite flow back into my life again. It doesn’t mean the problems dissolve into air the minute I have taken time to tune in. But I usually feel calmer, more connected to my breath, more equipped with tools.
 
So now when I feel busy in the sense of maxed out and overwhelmed, an alarm sound goes off in my head because I know that something is off track. I am attached to details and chasing a happiness I could have right in front of me.
 
Think for a moment: how would your life look like if all you were busy with was to show up fully in your life, as centered, loving and present as you can be? And to trust that this single effort will present you with the tools, strength, wisdom and opportunity to tackle ALL other things that fill up your life?
 
Try it!
 
Warning: you might end up on a tropical island doing your dream job and meeting the love of your life