GRACE.

I have really been struggling with the idea of productivity lately. What does it truly mean to be productive? To me, it is to produce something in your day that is worthwhile, something worthy of honor. While for most of the world, this means “putting in a hard day’s work” for those of us who are sick (or even if you are unemployed), it must mean something else, but I’m not quite sure what that is yet.

In pondering this thought, it occurred to me that I think it is very important to not confuse busyness with productivity. I feel like American society causes us to be always busy and sometimes productive.

Busyness is not necessarily what I want from life and yet I sometimes find myself seeking it, just so I can feel like everyone else. You can do a lot of nothing and stay busy, but to be productive is a decisive act to do- for a purpose. In sickness, busyness consumes a lot of energy and can take away from the healing process. And so, all we who are sick are left with the question of what to do with our time- how to use what little of it that we have and make it last in the vast amount of time we have at our disposal.

I have found that when I am very sick, I try to just occupy my brain with distraction. When I start to recover and have limited energy, I tend to spend it more wisely. It is really on my best days that I tend to get busy and not necessarily be as productive. Thank goodness God gives me grace in each day- whether it is productive, busy or otherwise.