I’m sure I’m not alone in being frequently overwhelmed by my to-do list. Or rather, lists. Sometimes it seems I’m wearing so many hats that I might as well be Bartholomew Cubbins.
Many of us could probably do with less on our plates, but for the purpose of this article, I’d actually like to focus on what a blessing busy-ness can be. While I’ve had a few near panic attacks of late, I have also had a positive realization that I hope might be helpful to some of you. That realization is this:
Having things to do is a blessing. They are signs that I’m really living.
Sometimes I feel as though I am desperately waiting for the next chance to rest. Rest is good. The Lord built rest into the very fabric of creation, so we know that it’s divinely recommended. But is rest the point of living? No. The point of living is to be useful. Yes, we can (and often do) take on too much. But if we strike some kind of balance between rest and busy-ness, then having chock full days of errands and chores can truly be a blessing. They are a sign that we are deeply alive, humming with uses.
Besides, sometimes the ways in which we choose to “rest” are actually a waste of time. Occasional bouts of TV watching, online shopping, and social media scrolling are fine in moderation, but science has proven that these activities don’t really rejuvenate us. In fact, they can have negative impacts on sleep, which I think we can all agree is the most crucial form of rest there is. I also find that I can lose shocking swathes of time to these inane forms of supposed relaxation and that I actually feel better on the whole when I have pleasantly busy days—days in which I have to spend my time wisely and with intention.
Sure, trying to accomplish too many services at once might ultimately diminish our usefulness, but, if balanced with appropriate amounts of real rest, busyness can be a sign of a life lived fully. Each to-do is like a building block of living—even the repetitive and mundane ones like doing dishes and folding laundry. Rather than inhibiting life, these simple uses are life. Of course we don’t want our entire existence to center around chores, but maybe they aren’t the balls and chains we sometimes make them out to be. Maybe they’re actually stepping stones on a path to heavenly joy.
I’ve been trying to shift my perspective on busyness as holidays approach and I struggle to balance a silly number of hats on my one, imperfect head. A full day can be a gift. A day without needing to do much, can also be a gift. It’s how we look at and use what fills our days that really matters. It’s also about choosing to fill our days with things that really are useful. Sometimes rest is the most useful thing we can do. Sometimes, it’s work inside the home. Sometimes it’s helping outside the home. Whatever uses are filling your days, I pray that we can take a deep breath, choose our uses wisely, and remember that our simple uses matter.
“When human beings were first created, they were imbued with wisdom and a love of wisdom, not for their own sake, but for the sake of their having it to share with others. Therefore it was engraved on the wisdom of the wise that no one should be wise and live for himself alone, unless he was wise and lived at the same time for others. This was the origin of society, which otherwise would not exist. To live for others is to perform useful services. Useful services are the bonds of society, there being as many bonds as there are good and useful services, and useful services are unlimited in number.
Useful services are spiritual when they have to do with love toward God and love for the neighbor. They are moral and civic services when they have to do with love for the society or civil state in which a person resides, and with love of the companions and fellow citizens with whom he is associated. Useful services are natural when they have to do with love of the world and its necessities. And they are corporeal when they have to do with the love of self-preservation for the sake of higher uses.
[2] All these capacities for being useful are engraved on the human spirit, and they follow in sequence, one after another, and when they are combined, one exists within another…”
– Married Love 18
Well said Justine!! A very useful read for me.
Thank you, Justine! Your perspective is uplifting. I remember realizing with a shock in my thirties that my granny, who was always always busy doing something, waiting on people, seeing things, doing dishes, actually LIKED doing all that and didn’t even want to rest. And when I got sick for a week on family vacation in the Berg around this time the revelation was driven home because I had to lie in bed and tell others what to cook and watch them clean up. I got so bored I wished I could get up and have the privilege of doing.
I so relate to that feeling of boredom and uselessness when sick. It’s so good to remember that having stuff to do is really such a good thing.
Thank you for sharing these insights. They really got me thinking, remembering, and appreciating various experiences. They gave me a real boost.
There is a wonderful essay called “Uses” by Joe David under Spiritual Topics in newchristianbiblestudy.org. I really appreciated that and I think you would, too.
Then in my experience of having to stop work because of disability I learned more about uses. I felt completely useless because not only could I not do the job I loved but I also couldn’t do many of the things I had planned to do when I retired for the same reason. It was a vivid lesson on how important uses and having a purpose outside of ourselves is to our happiness. Use or purpose is as important as food and water!!
I was helped a lot by a friend who asked me, “Are you a human being?” I replied, “What! Of course, I am.” “Ah,” she said. “You are a human being, not a human doing!” Wow! That really got me thinking about all sorts of different ways of being useful, not just being busy doing things. I found new happiness when I discovered that. I found many other less active ways of being useful, like listening to people, sending little unexpected messages to friends, editing and proof-reading, etc., and it made all the difference.
Uses are what make us fully human and eternally happy.
Thank you for recommending that article and for sharing your journey with redefining usefulness. You are a gift!
I love this idea! And I could add that having even small mundane useful things to do helps when you’re sad as well. The doctrine of use/usefulness keeps showing up in all kinds of settings/experiences.