Have you ever been so swamped with things that you have to do that it feels like you don’t even have time to breathe? There are days when you never have a break and you are constantly moving from one thing to the next. When it comes up in conversation, you tell people how busy you are with school and work and extracurriculars. Even though being busy can be miserable, announcing that we are busy is sometimes a chance to brag. We have a chance to share all of the things we are involved in, and how important all of these things are, and how we don’t have any time because we are so busy with our important lives. In reality though, being busy kind of sucks, and I frequently wish I had more time for myself.

Maybe it is just me, but when I share that I am busy, I am bragging a bit about all of the things that I am involved with. It’s a chance to say look at me and all the things I do, aren’t I great? When people are impressed with all of the things you are able to handle, you feel validated. But in the end, that validation is worthless. When it’s a Friday night and I am busy doing homework and catching up on missed sleep, I am jealous of my friends out having fun. While I am tending to my obligations, everyone I know is actually out living their lives. Even though there isn’t much I can do about how busy I am because of commitments I made, it is a reminder that we shouldn’t strive for a busy life. At least from my experience, being busy may make me look impressive but it does nothing for how satisfied I am with my life.

This year has been a nice reminder for me that busy does not equate to satisfaction. I may have bit of more than I can chew this year, and although I am handling it, I don’t have much time for anything else. Speaking honestly, I am actually fairly upset about it. With this being my last year of school, I feel like I should be doing more than living in the library and worrying about my job. This may be naïve, but I don’t think we should live our lives in a constant state of stress. I want to enjoy my life, and have time to have fun, rather than being stuck doing all of the things I am expected to do.

For me, bragging about how busy I am is a way to validate what I am doing. In reality, I wish I wasn’t busy and able to participate in all of the fun things that my friends are doing. This semester has been quite the learning experience for me, and I think it is going to shape how I handle my commitments in the future. I need a little bit more time for myself, and more time to have fun. Sure, being busy may sound impressive, but it really isn’t any fun. At some point or another, we all need a little bit more fun in our lives.