I Know You are Busy, But...

I am convinced the month of May is as busy, if not busier, than the Christmas season.

Graduations. Weddings. Baby Showers. Concerts. Award Ceremonies.

They are all squashed on the calendar before summer vacation hits and people scatter to the four winds. I have found it to be especially true in Arizona where people try to evacuate the entire state, if at all possible, when summer arrives.

May is busy, busy, busy.

On Friday evening my husband and I had three commitments. All important. All scheduled at the same time. We made cameo appearances. Popped in and out. Said "hi" to as many people as possible.

I never felt totally present.

Totally there.

I had one eye on the event we were attending and the other eye on my watch. I felt scattered and overcommitted or as Bilbo Baggins said in the Lord of the Rings,"I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter over too much bread."

I don't know about you, but I hate feeling like skimpy butter. I'm a Minnesota farm girl who likes the real thing. None of that fake margarine stuff. I want to live life with butter layered thick with some honey or homemade blackberry jam dripping down the sides--so delicious that you need to put it on a plate and sit down at the table to savor every delicious mouthful. You get the idea.

This spring I read a book entitled 7 by Jen Hatmaker. She wrote something that stuck with me, "I want people to stop prefacing their phone calls with this: 'I know you're so busy, but if I could just have a second...'"

I wondered, "Do people do this when they call me?"

So I started a social experiment. I started taking mental notes when people called me. Without exception, it found it's way into the conversation.

"I know you are busy, but..."

"I hate to bother you knowing how busy you are..."

"I called to see if we could meet for coffee, but I know how busy your schedule is..."

Author Kris Carr asks, " Ever feel like your life is living you? Like the woulda-shoulda-couldas are eating you up?"

I think we have all been there. Maybe we are currently there.

I constantly need to evaluate what I say "yes" to and sometimes I get overcommitted like I did on Friday, but I am still not a fan of the word, "busy." I prefer the word "full" or "purposeful". Maybe it is just semantics, but if I ask someone, "How are you living a full life?" or "How are you living a purposeful life?", I get a more thoughtful answer than to the question: "What are you busy doing?"

So, here's the deal.

Who wants to join me this week in asking those questions:

How are you living a full life? How are you living a purposeful life?

Or you could ask, "Are you living a skimpy butter life?", but I don't recommend it.

I'm curious to see what answers I am given. How about you?