I was reading in the news that the UK government are expecting many of us to abandon long distance travelling and overseas meetings for online ones. In the wake of the virus and people emerging from lockdown there will be many changes to the way ‘life’ has been done.
With an expected 20% reduction on public transport, things are definitely changing.
As people, me included, have been forced to stop travelling and switch over instead to online meetings, the landscape for now at least is vastly different.
I think that for me, one of my perspectives that has changed is the relentless wheel of busyness. As a father of 3 with a fulltime job and a wife that lives with a disability our lives have always felt busy and I find I’m dealing with moments on the hoof all the time.
I think that keeping us all busy is also a business that does very well for itself and keeps you and I running at breakneck speed.
Cars for example are subtly changed every 6 months to make the model you have out of date and the new one desirable. Keep working, keep busy you need this new model, right? As I have travelled in London on the tube there are posters everywhere that say things like ‘tired of being tired? All you need is this 100% caffeine shot to get the most from your day!’
No, what you need is to realise there is a business here that needs you to buy in and break yourself trying to keep up. I have been talking to more and more people recently about this and all are saying that they are now seeing how valuable a real work life balance is. This time of lockdown, I think, is helping us unplug from the matrix of the busyness machine and breathe.
The point of this is, so many of us are forging new rhythms here in our work life, family and how this is fed and prioritised by our faith in Jesus as we adjust to the new ‘normal.’ My challenge for you here is what will your response be? Have you been plugged into the machine of ‘busyness?’ What will you do now?
Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash
