Being the Pinterest addict I am, I was once again ignoring all of my responsibilities in order to scroll through the app on my phone. One of my favorite things about this glorious app is the plethora of inspirational quotes it allows me to save to a board, print out, and hang up all around my room. Yes, I'm serious. All over my room. As cheesy as it is, these words pasted all around me are what keeps me going throughout the day. One quote in particular that got me thinking was, "Busy is not your purpose." Going from having something scheduled in my day every minute throughout basically my entire life, coming to college and having an insane amount of free time was a really difficult change. Playing three sports at times, being involved in about eight clubs, and taking no less than five advanced placement classes at a time, there was never a moment where I could just sit down and breathe. When I would take time to myself, I would feel extremely guilty about it. When I found free time. I found myself wanting to fill up my schedule to be busy every second, and when I was doing nothing I found myself feeling worthless. However, I started to realize that there was more to me than being busy, and that being busy did not make me who I am.

Looking around me, this way of thinking was not unique to just myself. We are a society of always being on the go. We are taught at a super young age that we need to fill up our schedules and always be doing something, and that means that we are and will be successful. This is seen in college applications where if we aren't a "well-rounded" student, then there is no way we could get into our dream schools. By well-rounded this almost always means we need nearly perfect test scores, a 6.0 GPA, we need to play a sport and be good at it, we need to be involved in more than 5 clubs. We also have to have 200 service hours, be involved in our community, write an entire research paper, and also don't forget to exercise, get enough sleep, hang out with friends and family, and have strong emotional health as well. These standards that we are being held up to for most of our lives create a sense of perfectionism that is dangerous. Not only that, but our schedules are always filled completely, never giving us time to reflect and figure out what we really want in our lives. College applications aside, whether we realize we are doing this or not, we are constantly comparing ourselves to who we follow on social media. Becky, the super pretty girl on Instagram, seems to be so productive and truly have a perfect life. Instagram is a highlight reel and of course, people are going to brag about how busy they are, especially when it is so glorified in society. At the end of the day, busy does not equal better. Busy does not give us time to reflect and learn more about ourselves. Busy does not give us time to be there for ourselves and the ones we love. Busy continuously makes us put our minds and souls on auto-drive.

While being busy is extremely important, it does not deserve to have all of our effort, time, and sense of self. Busyness keeps us, well, busy. It keeps us out of trouble, and not thinking about what we would really rather not be thinking about. However, our schedules and how much we fill them up do not make us who we are. Sure, they show us our hobbies, they give us passions, but they don't define us. The fact that I had soccer practice twice a day, studied for almost 6 hours every day and scheduled each time I took a nap, ate a meal, and even took breaks did not make up my personality. Instead, having time and space to breathe and prioritize what is important to us is what truly makes us who we are. Our purpose is not to be busy, our purpose is to follow our passions and love each human as much as the next.

So, next time you are thinking about filling your schedule so you don't have to think about what has been making you sad, think twice. It is healthy for us to have self-reflection and days off. We aren't machines and we were made for so much more.