I’ve been thinking about the ways we abandon the things that keep us healthy in times of busyness. I once read an apocryphal account of a Buddhist monk who insisted to a man that he should meditate thirty minutes each day. When the man countered that he didn’t have time to meditate thirty minutes a day, the monk told him that he should meditate sixty instead.
When we have a lot on our plate, we tend to neglect the very things that equip us to handle having a lot on our plate. We leave aside exercise, which is important for physical and mental health. We abandon practices that keep us spiritually healthy, such as mediation or worship. Typically, we may not even make the time to eat healthy meals, preferring something quick and easy, like fast food.
Leaving out our health to fend for last place in our list of priorities is bad enough. However, doing it when you most need your health to contend with a growing list of priorities is worse still. So we come to a paradox — how do we behave as if we have the time for nurturing, protective activities and still have the time for those things that are shouting their urgency at us?
