Occasionally, your National Taoism Examiner encounters a person who is (to say the least) overburdened with their constant activity-work and general “busy-ness”. We all know someone like this; the type of person who is constantly busy; going here, going there, multi-tasking, on a conference call while driving, networking when they take their child to see the doctor, etc…

Many people scoff at the person who has their phone permanently attached to their face, and forever updating their contacts on their comings and goings. Perhaps, you or someone close to you is this person!

Curiosity may cause one to ponder, what are they so busy doing? If you ask them, how or what they are doing, or if you can have a moment of their time, they will surely reply with “sorry, busy-so very busy, I will be back-soon”. Of course, when they are back, they are often quickly engaged in another activity.

This type of person is always working; “… [they] work when they are working, works when he exercises and more often than not, works when he plays. (The Tao of Pooh)” Mr. Hoff could have easily added, that this type of person even turns a vacation into work. When this person is at Disney World for example, they are busy scheduling fast passes and then running around the park to be at each precise location by a certain time—open the park, close the park, next morning start all over again. You say to them, wait let’s slow down a little, and they respond, “sorry, I can’t I am on vacation, got things to do and see, I am so busy, not enough time to rest”. When they return home they need a vacation from their vacation, but no rest for them, because then they are busy at work and with their life, don’t you know.

For this person, exercise becomes a grueling activity (workout); where the benefits are achieved with excessive, harsh movements that are repeated over and over again, never stopping, always in pursuit of the ever unachievable goal.

When is enough enough, for the person that is always busy? When a person says, “Carpe Diem, do they really mean seize the day, live life to the fullest?” What if Carpe Diem leads one to a different type of seizing, as in the heart stopping? What if living life to the fullest, causes one to die early or become ravaged with illness and disease? Was it worth it? Is the constant stress of being busy, worth the “reward” that is fleeting and will not last anyway? What is the point of being the top CEO in your prime only to have your memory and mind taken away from you when you are still in your 60’s?

How would they feel if they are told that a more literal translation of Carpe Diem actually means to “enjoy the day, to enjoy the moment”?

In the Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff quotes Chuang-tse:

“There was a man who disliked seeing his footprints and his shadow. He decided to escape from them, and began to run. But as he ran along, more footprints appeared, while his shadow easily kept up with him. Thinking he was going too slowly, he ran faster and faster without stopping, until he finally collapsed from exhaustion and died. If he had stood still, there would have been no footprints. If he had rested in the shade, his shadow would have disappeared.”

Let us all pause for a moment, breathe deeply and sip some tea. Then take out your schedule book or open that calendar app, and make time in your schedule first thing each morning, once in the afternoon and then again before bedtime—to breathe deeply, stretch, practice the internal exercises, go for a walk in the park, smell the flowers, watch the birds or close your eyes and listen to the birds sing, etc… Schedule time for tea instead of coffee and cigarettes.

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