SLOWING DOWN: WHY "BUSYNESS" LEADS TO MENTAL STRAIN, ANGER, ANXIETY, AND ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOR11/30/2016 The pause is especially important for the freedom of being.
For years I've been telling my clients (and friends alike) that being busy running around doing things is not necessarily a sign of personal success. In fact, more often than not “busyness” builds a parallel life, where meaningfulness and mindfulness are reduced to accomplishing tasks and goals. “Busy” seems to have blinded and effectively incarcerated us all, becoming a virtue validated and glorified by the surrounding culture.
Here are four major signs of a life that is unnecessarily busy: (1) Stress/Mental Strain (2) Anger/Irritability (3) Anxiety/Fear (4) Compulsive Behavior
Glorifying busyness and making it a way of living deepens the negative effects of these symptoms, leading to: social loneliness, broken relationships, addiction, bio-chemical imbalances and physical illness.
We become unable to recognize and integrate that part of ourselves that Carl Gustav Jung calls Shadow: the “dark” side of our personality: Guilt Shame Fears Doubt Impulsivity Sadness and Depression Emotional Wounds Busyness creates a vicious circle, for it allows us to avoid seeing and confronting precisely the sources that feed the Shadow. The issue is, many of our choices and behaviors are dictated or influenced by our Shadow. What is your understanding of "busy"? How do people see busyness and idleness in your workplace, family and community? Do you see them related to Career Stress, Difficulties Finding Love or Sustaining Relationships?
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