pray - We Aren't Ants, So Why Are We So Busy?


Over the past few days, my husband and I have been talking about the hurry everyone seems to be in and the impact it's having on our community - in our world. People are impatient on the road and pass me in a tizzy even when I'm going 20 miles over the speed limit. People don't stop to let pedestrians cross the street as often. People don't let shoppers with fewer items than them go ahead in the check out line as often. People don't stop to smile at a homeless person on the street. People don't look each other in the face while waiting at a doctor's office. People are always busy with their phones or busy complaining how long something is taking or busy complaining about how something isn't going their way or busy getting kids to ten different events in one afternoon. Our American world has gotten so busy that we've let the busy distract us from really living. How necessary is all this busy? How much is the busy distracting us from one another and human relationships? What are we so busy about?

I plead guilty to this busy claim. I may even be the worst of them all. There really is something to this slowing life down, so you can actually be present and enjoy it. When I was in the midst of all my working and volunteering and exercise groups, 75% of the week was planned in advance, and I was constantly running from one thing to the next. My mind was on this neverending track of, "Am I going to make it on time? What do I do next? Do I have time to go to the grocery store and cook dinner? How can I multi-task to get this and that done all today?" And, when my mind was on this circular track, it was stressed and wasn't focused on the here and now. So, in all this busy, I wasn't really there, because my mind was busy trying to plan out the next thing. In the end, did my volunteering really count, since I wasn't completely there? What was I really giving other than half my attention, if that much?

I've slowly started to ease off, even though what I've eased off from, I now put into my job. So, I'm not sure that I'm less busy, or that I have less "things" to entertain my busy. But, what I can say is the past few weeks I've been home more in the evenings with my husband than usual. We've spent time together at home after work. This past weekend was full, but it was full of helping my mom and reaching out to a friend. We focused on one person at a time, and I tell you, it meant something to them and to us. 

Back in mid-October, we attended a concert in downtown Greenville. The band we went to see, AJ Ghent, played a song that has really stuck with me.

It ain't easy facing wrong and right
In October it gets colder
I spent my summer
Working on the road
I turned off the tv
So they won't deceive me
Cause it ain't easy being a man

Granny told me to pray
Keep good in my sight
But I found out people
Gonna hate you despite
But it don't stop there
It takes money to survive
Every hunger got a price
But the price ain't right
Days of darkness
From pushin' and tryin'
To prove my best
To make my way
You can say what you want to say
But by this fact I stand
Cause it ain't easy being a man

Hopefully, I haven't butchered those lyrics, and that isn't all of them, but they spoke to me. Now, what do they have to do with being busy? Because, I'm pretty sure that's not what he wrote this song about. So, here it is.

When I saw AJ Ghent perform this song, the passion that overtook his body and voice blew me away. He nearly brought me to tears. Now, I can, in no way, relate to him being a man in the way he is referring to, but I am human, and I can relate to how difficult it is to stay human in this faceless busy world we're living in, and in that way, I felt his passion in my bones. He was present - not too busy performing - to really be there.

Something else is special about this moment too. When his band started their first song, the crowd was relatively sparse. People were busy going from one place to the next during this festival. By the time he played this song, I looked over my shoulder and couldn't see the end of the crowd, which meant all those busy people stopped their busy lives to watch him play. Not only did they stop their lives to watch him play, they participated in it. People of all ages, genders, religious beliefs, ethnicities and races, sexuality, and socio-economic casts stopped their busy lives and danced together. They laughed together. They had fun together. It was a picture of unity and peace because we all felt his passion and had the same passion inside our hearts. Now, where is that headline in the news?

The point, to all my madness and rambling, is this: We are all busy going about life, but what are we really busy doing? Is our busy worth cutting someone off in traffic or being inconsiderate of another person's day or missing quality time with our families and friends? Is our busy causing us to be less present and more stressed? Is our busy making a difference in someone else's life or in our world? Are we stopping to hear the music around us? Are we stopping to look each other in the eye? Are we stopping to share a smile or some laughter? Or, are we too busy to even notice one another?

It isn't easy being human in this chaotically busy world. After all, we all have to make a living. But, is it such a bad thing to stop and live? To inhale and exhale without thinking about what's next on the to-do list. To inhale and exhale in rhythm to the stranger standing next to us and share a two-second smile. To inhale and exhale while looking away from the device in front of us to look each other in the eyes. To inhale and exhale together as humans and just be thankful we're all breathing the same air. To inhale and exhale as humans and be thankful our hearts are beating together in this thing called life. To inhale love and to exhale the pollution.

Aj Ghent, It Ain't Easy Being a Man


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