“I wanted to figure out why I was so busy, but I couldn’t find the time to do it.” Todd Stocker

We, Human beings are very busy people. Busyness is considered a great virtue.

We have no time to do exercise. We don’t mind the invasion of diseases.

We have no time to know about a healthy diet. We don’t mind our body suffer at the luxury of our tongue.

We have no time for our children/spouse. We don’t mind remorse after we turn 65 or useless for the market.

We have no time for our parents. We don’t mind repenting after they die.

We have no time to live the life of our dream. We don’t mind self-pity.

We have no time to know laws governing us i.e. laws of karma. We don’t mind believing in blind beliefs and suffer.

We have no time to pursue our passion. We don’t mind slavery of job/profession till we become incapacitated or die.

We live in the body but have no time to know how it works and why it gets diseased? We don’t mind suffering from multiple diseases and dependency on medicines.

We have no time to know who we are? The soul is different from the body. We don’t mind dying without attempting enlightenment.

Two stanzas from Bhaj Govindam is awakening:

Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda,
Seek Govinda, O Fool!
When the appointed times comes (death),
grammar rules surely will not save you.

O Fool! Give up the thirst to possess wealth.
Create in your mind, devoid of passions,
thoughts of the Reality.
With whatever you get, entertain your mind, be content.

 

People have absolutely no time. All are busy. They have justification for all their business. But in reality, no justification or excuse of busyness will extend our time on earth.

The irony of our time is absolute busyness. Technology & Greed are the culprits. Things are changing so fast that people have no time but to keep pace and survive.

Technology should have freed our time but the pace of it is keeping all of us busy.

Earlier, TV was available only for 4 hours, then it becomes 24 hours then there come private channels, now a plethora of 24 x 7 channels.

Earlier the phone was for communicating, now with the phone becoming smart, we can do multiple things. We all know how much time we waste with irrelevant things on the phone.

The appetite of the investors’ high returns is keeping the company management and employees busy and stressed with work, always.  This has a multiplier effect on society. Everybody is busy. Very busy.

We all have become time-poor, and not necessarily money rich. Life is all about the time we have before we die. It is not about the money we earn.

Richness is not about how much money you have; it is about how much of the life you lived according to you your own will and desire.

In his little book On the Shortness of Life, Seneca (A Roman Philosopher) writes a very powerful message for all of us.

Seneca writes, ”Believe me it is better to understand the balance sheet of one’s own life than a corn trade.” We all are experts in analysing balance sheets of our business and others’ businesses totally ignorant about our own life’s balance sheet. What a paradox!

He laments all those who think some years in life are guaranteed to them. “When I am fifty I shall retire into leisure when I am sixty I shall give up public duties. And what guarantee do you have a longer life? Who allows you to proceed as you arrange it?

Aren’t you ashamed to keep for yourself just the remnants of your life, and to devote to wisdom only that time, which cannot be spent on any business?”

“Busyness chokes deep thinking.” Todd Stocker

Yes, our busyness is because of the lack of deep thinking. We are so obsessed with the momentum and our competing spirit that we don’t want to think. It starts when we join the school and ends with our grave.

We live life observing others and comparing them with others.  As everybody runs, we also run, try to run faster. There is no time to think about the important aspect of life.

We need a shock treatment to become aware of the life we live and to break the momentum.

“The moment a person learns he’s got terminal cancer; a profound shift takes place in his psyche. At one stroke in the doctor’s office, he becomes aware of what really matters to him.” Steven Pressfield in his book The War of Art

This is the harsh reality. We need the diagnosis of terminal cancer to awaken us.

Rishi Kapoor when he was recovering from cancer said, “A person like me who has never had patience, this is God’s way to teach me patience. Getting well is a slow procedure. But it makes you grateful for the gift of life.”

“Don’t feel pressured to do what other people might think is a fulfilling life. you might want a mediocre life and that is so okay.” Holly Butcher, an Australian 27-year-old woman died of cancer.

“The universe is not short on wake-up calls. We’re just quick to hit the snooze button.” Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

Calm down, curtail your expectations of achieving, reduce your desire to socialise relentlessly, and enhance your desire to live a fulfilling life. Be comfortable with yourself.

“A busy life is a wasted life.”  Francis Crick

Are you wasting your precious human life or living it in a fully awakened state?

This year India’s entry in the Oscar award is the movie Gullyboy.

Apna Time Aayega (My time will come… a song from Gullyboy) is history. Your time has already started when you were born. Start living the life you always wanted to live, NOW.  Your busyness is killing the time you have to live your life.

You may like to read: Why Do You Need To Go To The Work Tomorrow?