The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

T We're simply too busy trying to out-busy each other That's Life Andy Juniper Guest Contributor 7 | Thursday, April 11, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com ell me you haven't heard it, from a family member, friend, co-worker, or even a venting stranger in the public confessional known as the coffee shop. Furthermore, tell me you haven't uttered it yourself in some variation of the following phrase: I'm busy. Crazy busy. Nutty busy. Overwhelmingly busy. Out-of-my-mind busy. Too darn busy to have a real life. Sadly, it's become the refrain of our times. I get it. We're busy. But it seems at some point `busy' went from being a complaint to being a blatant brag merely cloaked as a complaint. Busy. A badge of honor. Busy. A contest we're all trying to win -- we're all horribly busy trying to out-busy each other. I grew up in a small city. The pace of life was pretty slow (author understatement). My parents worked hard, didn't boast or complain about it, and by dinner time their workday was done and they were ready (and able) to recreate: socialize with friends, watch a baseball game on TV, enjoy hobbies (woodworking, gardening, etc.). They didn't nd it productive -- and it certainly wasn't essential -- to whip out work after dinner and offer up more hours to the of ce gods. Crazy, I know. They (gasp) actually enjoyed downtime without guilt, and (gasp) loved life. Full, wellrounded life. So, what's changed? What's gone wrong? Recently, author Tim Kreider profoundly noted in the Anxiety Section of a U.S. newspaper -- yes, Virginia, there really are Anxiety Sections in newspapers: "It isn't generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the I.C.U., or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs, who tell you how busy they are. It's almost always people whose lamented busyness is purely selfimposed: work and obligations they've taken on voluntarily." Why? "They're busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they're addicted to busyness...." Addicted to busyness. Imagine. We're nutty busy because we can't stand to be anything but nutty busy. We get on edge when confronted with anything resembling downtime. We question: shouldn't we be doing something? Yes. We should be doing something. We should be enjoying ourselves. Smelling the roses and the coffee and, in today's crazy coffee culture, the rose- avored coffee. We should be loving life, reading books, listening to music, turning off our computers, setting aside our ubiquitous phones, and walking the dog, taking our kids to the park, or making googly eyes at our spouses. As an obvious aside, it must be noted that a big part of our busyness -- why we can't get done what we think we need to get done in time to still have a life -- is that very technology. Add up the hours we spend mindlessly checking Facebook and Twitter, or ensuring that a life-altering e-mail hasn't popped up in the last 17 seconds, and you've got what used to be called `spare time'. It's idiotic behavior. It's an epidemic and we really need to stop our nonsense. "Idleness," Kreider wrote, "is not a vacation, an indulgence, or a vice; it's as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body. Life is too short to be (too) busy." Amen. -- Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook www. facebook.com, or followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters. Interlocking Tumblestone, Retaining Walls, Garden Installation, Sodding & Excavating, plus more Call for FREE Estimate (905) 827-8158 · www.rogerslandscaping.org FREE INSTALLATION POOL SALE ABOVE GROUND POOLS 12' X 24' INGROUND KIDNEY SHAPED POOL INSTALLATION* OR NO PAYMENTS FOR 12 MONTHS (OAC) FREE $ VINYL & FIBERGLASS AVAILABLE 24,995 INSTALLED* 15' ROUND $2299 18' ROUND $2499 12' X 20' OVAL $2299 15' X 25' OVAL $3999 INSTALLED* SPAS FROM $1,999 SWIM SPAS FROM $15,999 FACTORY DIRECT VINYL LINER SALE Replace your Old Liner SAVE BIG! 12' x 24' $999 16' x 32' $1299 20' x 40' $1799 14' x 28' $1099 18' x 36' $1499 Visit Our Showroom! 504 IROQUOIS SHORE RD UNIT #1, OAKVILLE, ONTARIO L6H 3K4 905.815.5252 *Restrictions apply chek in-store for details.