“Ann! I’m so sorry I haven’t reached out. I have been so busy!”
My stepdaughter texted me these words while I was on my latest cycling adventure.
I could only laugh.
She is 12. She was on summer break. She has no job, no schoolwork, no chores, and her only obligation was going to the beach every day with her friends.
(Good thing she is so cute!)
After wondering if she was practicing to be a 40-year-old with three kids and a full-time job, I realized that she was merely parroting what she hears from people in her life.
“I have been so busy!”
Isn’t it ironic that we are never too busy for things that are important to us? The operative words being “important to us.”
We are never too busy:
* to get married
* to have kids
* to take a vacation
* to workout
* to watch every episode of The Blacklist
* to go to the latest movie or read a page-turning book
* to go out to a nice dinner
* to update Facebook/Twitter/ Instagram
* to walk the dog
* to sleep in on summer break and then go to the beach
We make time for things that we deem a priority.
What we could say is, “I have a lot of priorities right now and that (or you) is not one of them.” or “My priorities are a bit messed up right now since I’m not making time for you.” or “I want to do that but I need to re-prioritize.”
That would be audacious, refreshingly honest, and even radically candid.
Seriously. Nobody is “so busy” … isn’t it just a matter of priorities?