Busy, Busy, Busy...Take a Minute..Eternity is in it!

Busy, Busy , Busy… rush, rush, rush!!! I gotta go here, I have to go there, I need to , I want to , I…..

What’s wrong with the above statement? I is the primary word. Now, it’s perfectly okay to have “me “time. That time that we set aside to re-connect with ourselves. To make sure we are taking care of ourselves. My question is, What about the time that we are NOT focusing on our loved ones because we are SO busy, busy, busy!!

I am guilty!! I am. I’ve gotten much better. I’ve learned to stop and not only take the time but make the time.

I used to own an insurance agency. I was SO BUSY!! I worked all the time. Literally!! I feel like I used to work in my sleep. I was always thinking about how to make that next sell. You self employed people understand. When the amount of money you make depends strictly on you, you have a tendency to focus ONLY on making the money. I would get up, get the kids off to daycare and school, work through lunch, get up grab a bite to eat around 5 pm, pick up the kids, feed them and go back to work and stay until 11 – 12, go home and do home duties and start over. When the weekend came, it was the same grind. If I had to choose between work and church, I chose work. I would even have my spouse drop me off at the office so my clients wouldn’t know I was at work on the Sabbath. Exercise! What was that? I stopped doing that too. I used to be an exercise fanatic. When I opened the agency, exercising fell by the wayside. I was working hard, but not working smart. I should have delegated more to my staff but I was so determined to make sure everything was done correctly. The sad part about it was I missing out on life!

What about the babies and my oldest baby. (She will always be my baby) She was 10 when I opened my office. My middle child was 10 months old and the youngest -not even born yet. As I think back on it, I realize how unfair it was to them. I should have spent more time nurturing them and in my oldest child’s case, showing her how to cook; my ex used to do the cooking. I stopped long enough to have my last child because my clock was ticking. I didn’t want to have a child past the age of 35. Why 35? Lord only knows. I was just busy being busy. All in all it was to my detriment. I didn’t focus on my marriage, my children or God like I should have. Don’t get me wrong, I love hard. I loved those babies with every fiber of my being. I even found time to breast feed. I am just saying, that I wished that I’d have slowed things down a little to make sure they were getting the time that they needed. That is why I work so fevershisly now to spend quality face to face-momma time with them now.

I watched my mom work hard and push through so I thought it was okay for me to push through what I needed to accomplish. I am so proud of her. She married right out of high school. Had my sister during her sophomore year of college and still graduated valedictorian. She has always pushed through no matter what; facing adversities that I will never understand. She lived and loved my dad who had a propensity to cheat among other things. (That’s another blog…God rest his soul…I love and miss him so). She even obtained her Ed.D while working and driving two hours one way to attend class. She did what she thought was the thing to do. She watched her mother work and push through, no matter the struggle. The ultimate goal was and has always been to succeed. What I didn’t realize is that my mother had a whole lot of help and she DID take the time. (As I type, my mother calls… she is on the phone. She is telling me about the poem that she wrote when she wrote her dissertation called reflections on reality….talk about connected) Anyway…I grew up right next door to my paternal grandparents and around the corner from my maternal grandmother. They seemed to be always home and available. My mother still took the time to sing to us and rock us. While she whisked around the house doing chores, I was right behind her, following and learning. She took the time. Always pushing me while teaching me. I still don’t know how she managed to do it all. It seems literally impossible to do it now. I can’t keep up. I don’t have the luxury of having someone come in and clean or do the laundry like I used to do, but I am SO content. I have TIME. The time given to us everyday to use wisely. I choose to spend it with my husband, my children, family and friends that I love so dearly.

So, when you find yourself scurrying around saying “I” a little too much. Slow down. Breathe, Re-focus and then PUSH Forward!

I leave with you this poem…

Only a Minute
I have only just a minute,Only sixty seconds in it,Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,But it’s up to me to use it, Give account if I abuse it,Answer for it if I lose it, Just a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it!

The poem “I have only just a minute” was written by an English teacher at Saugus High School, Saugus, MA. in the 40’s.The authors name was Welcome McCullough.