Episode Transcript
Think meditation is hard? Do me a favor, take a slow deep breath in and now breathe out. Congratulations, you just meditated. Hi, I’m Krystal Jakosky, and this is Breathe In, Breathe Out: a Weekly Mindfulness and Meditation podcast for anyone ready to own their own shit and find a little peace while doing it.
Welcome to Breathe In, Breathe, I'm Krystal Jakoky and I'm glad that you're here. I appreciate the fact that you guys are joining me on my journey of introspection and growth learning. I am a sponge for learning and evidently, this is just one of the avenues that I get to explore and dive into because that's what I'm doing. When I was younger, there was a phrase that came up a lot and it was, if you want something done, go find the busiest person in town and ask them to do it. And when I was younger, the statement didn't make a whole lot of sense to me cuz I thought, Why on earth would you go to somebody who's already got an unbelievably full plate? I mean, if they're that busy, aren't they already carrying enough? Why would I go to them and ask them to take on more?
This is a very valid question, especially in my young brain. It makes a hell of a lot of sense. Why would you ask somebody who's unbelievably busy to take on more as an adult? I understand that the busiest person in town is busy because they get shit done. They're productive, they are capable, and they know how to dive in and achieve and succeed in whatever it is that they're doing. So if I want something done, I'm going to go to the busiest person in town and ask them if they can do it. The thing is that in my learning, education, and growth, I also sincerely hope that that person has baked some self-care into their schedule so that they can regenerate and continue succeeding. So I understand the concept and as a little kid, it made total sense. Why would I do that to somebody?
And as an adult, it makes total sense why I would do that to somebody. And I also hope that somebody's baking self-care. I hope that they are monitoring and managing and saying, Hey, you know what? This isn't helping me, or the only way I can be productive is if I do take care of myself. Because you've all heard me, I say it all the time. You are a finite resource. There's only so much of you to go around and you need to plug yourself in. If you're going to keep going, just like you have to plug your cell phone in or hybrid car or whatever it is, you have to refuel. You have to do that. The idea of being the busiest person in town has come to the forefront a lot lately. I mean a lot. I like to be busy, and I like to be active, but I don't like being called busy.
It rubs me the wrong way. Recently somebody asked me, What are you doing today? And I let them know the myriad of things. I was doing something physical and working on this project. I had a couple of work meetings, lunch with a friend, an afternoon business meetup, and laundry, packing for an upcoming trip so that I could escape the cold. Their reply was the expected, You're always busy. And I bristled. I mean, I really bristled and then I had to pause because as we all know, I'm learning, I'm growing, I'm trying. I know that if I'm bristling, I have an issue. So what's my issue and what do I really honestly need to do about it? I chose to do a little analysis. What is it about everything in my day? Am I running away from things? Am I staying busy just because I can be busy or is there something behind them?
And the reality is that the physical project that I was doing, I knew it would help me mentally. I had been sliding a bit, emotionally struggling, feeling that languishing feeling. And I happen to know myself well enough that I know physical work helps improve my mood and outlook. I really need to be down there and active and using my body to get stuff done because that is what releases those endorphins and helps me feel better. It improves my mental and emotional stability. Work is work. We kind of all have to do it. It just is what it is. So I needed to get work done. I can't really take that off my plate. And it's not that it's busy work, it's literally I'm doing a job. Lunch with a friend was positive encouragement and absolutely 100% self-care. It was an added intentional act that wasn't really there before.
But I decided to put it on there because I knew that I needed a boost and I knew that it would help maintain my positive mental state. I knew that it would continue working along with that added endorphin rush from being so physical in the morning. I know that if I sit still for very long without being productive in some way, shape, or form, I begin to slide. I need that additional support from completing projects, from creating something from achieving and succeeding by connecting with my own emotional, mental, and physical being. I've learned what I need so that I can help myself stay more even-keel and happy. What may be quote-unquote busy to some people is actually a lifeline to others. Now I bristle at the word busy. I mean it really rubs me the wrong way. And yet that's kind of what I am.
I'm busy because I'm active and I'm achieving. I've encouraged other people to rename things like graduation instead of retirement. Personally, I say musings instead of journaling, stretching instead of yoga. Right now I'm working on renaming busy because every time I hear that negative tilt in the word, I automatically think that it's a bad thing for me to be busy. It's a bad thing for me to be so active. And yet realistically, it's doing so much good for me, I need a positive word. So I'm still trying to find positive words so that when somebody uses that word with that negative tilt, I can consciously change it to something more positive, more encouraging, more uh huh. Yeah, damn, Skippy. I'm that because it's self-care. It helps me feel better. It is absolutely what I need and I value myself enough to give that to me. On another note, perhaps sharing with people why I'm busy and what it does for me will not only bring more intention to my actions and minimize my bristle, it might help other people understand why I'm so active, why I'm so involved.
And perhaps that negative lilt will change along with my mentality to something way more positive of, Hey, I want to encourage you in being busy. I want to encourage you in being active in your life because now I know how much it means to you. So that's my journey this week, that's what I'm working on. This week I'm going to continue figuring out what is my replacement word. What is my renaming of this negative connotation to something inspiring, or unhelpful? Feel free to shout out. Feel free to put comments and help me find that new word to switch things up. And if you are like me and you are busy, I hope that you dive in and try to understand why it is. What does it do for you? Is there something that you're running from? Is it that you're afraid of being slowed down and relaxing?
Is there some learned behavior in it? Why do you choose to fill your plate? And if it's a negative reason why you're filling your plate, maybe you can look at those a little more critically and say, Hey, I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to be running. I don't want to be forcing or pushing and I want to embrace something different. And you can find little baby steps to shift it so that instead of being busy, you're embracing more self-care and you're embracing more love and value and self-worth for yourself. And if you are doing it because it is absolutely what you need to do so that you can feel better, you go get 'em. I fully support you understanding why behind the what. I hope you join me again next week here on Breathe In. Breathe Out.
I hope this moment of self-care and healing brought you some hope and peace. I’m @krystaljakosky on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and I hope you check us out and follow along for more content coming soon. I look forward to being with you again here on Breathe In, Breathe Out. Until next time, take care.
