Keeping busy - having things to do - is part of a good life. We feel productive, worthwhile, and alive when we have something to do. That feeling of accomplishment can enhance the time we spend relaxing, having fun, and enjoying the company of others.

Being busy balances just being! Busy as a state-of-mind, however, is a condition that needs addressing.

Life is meant to be in balance. If we constantly talk about how busy we are, and/or use being busy as an excuse not to do something we don't want to do, or even to not do something we want to do, we are in trouble. Life can cease to be in balance.

I have observed that we all find the time to do what we really want to do. If we want to golf or fish, we carve out time and do it. When there is a great new movie or an old friend comes to town, we find a way to drop everything.

Busy describes having a
lot to do, but it can also become
a state-of-mind. One goes away when
tasks are completed or put away for another
day. The latter is a condition that colors our
every waking moment, and sneaks
into our sleep - or lack of it.

This is not to say that we aren't often overly busy and recognize we should not add another event to our schedule. But some of us are always too busy. Always.

The older we get, the clearer it becomes that we can and must make time for what we want to do, who we want to see, and who we want to be! I was a victim of always thinking that life will slow down soon and then I will have lunch with - or call - or cruise to... I've had to learn to make the pace slow down, though I still have a ways to go yet.

There are people I value more than I show them and I sure hope there are people who value me more than they show me. My bet is that this is true with most people. We all need to do something about it while we can.

I am proceeding now to 'eat the elephant one bite at a time.' That is the concept of doing a little at a time. Paperwork, for instance, is not my favorite task. But I can do it for 15 minutes and often find that leads me to do an hour. I love to call old friends and two delightful aunts in Boston. The trick is to call just one person on any given day. I don't even have 365 people to call. One call a day will get me in touch with everyone.

And the main point is, if not now, when?

Jean Loxley-Barnard has been a writer all her life and studied both sociology and psychology at George Washington University where she earned a B.A. Her company, The Shopper, Inc., encompasses all the Loxley-Barnard family publications - The Shopper Magazines and Doctor to Doctor Magazine. She has been in the advertising, consulting and publishing business for 39 years.