The Modern Way of Escaping Your Problems: Working, Over-scheduling & Travel

Americans are accused of overworking and focusing too much of their time on work and business. We take very few holidays. It’s like we hate vacations or empty time. 

I think part of this is due to the crazy competitive nature of the culture. Another part is the pure need to work so we can survive. This is also driven by the consumerist debt trap that many of us are caught in. But I actually wonder if the real reason is that we just don’t want to have the empty space and time to think. 

Thinking is scary. Thinking forces you to face yourself and reality. Reality can be grim. I found myself in 2022 crazy busy, over-scheduled and traveling like mad. And in retrospect, if I am honest, most of this was not necessary. 

Financially and business wise, I felt like I was in good shape. But my home and family life was in shambles. All these issues were caused by me and how I dealt with things back in 2020. In fact, I am still totally enraged by the incompetence I saw from our gov’t & the elites, how poorly served our kids were by the schools and how I was cheated by my tenants & business partners at that time. I will never forgive them or myself, nor will I forget. 

I had a very hard time confronting this. I still do. Also not knowing what to do in these situations. It’s my worst nightmare. Therapy or no therapy, It’s just much easier to be away and escape. 

That’s exactly what I did. I over scheduled myself. I traveled like crazy speaking at conferences all over the world. I didn’t have to but I felt compelled to get away. I probably took at least 19 business trips with 9 of them just from September to December. Crazy. But I needed the time and distance. I was basically hiding. 

Sometimes you just need time to absorb it. And to acknowledge your guilt and ponder ways to fix things. But you can’t hide forever. 

I know putting off solving problems leads to larger problems. You have to eventually deal with them. I normally face my problems head on. It’s something I pride myself on and preach about. And the good news is that I was finally able to deal with things. But only after I faced them down & took responsibility and action. 

So my point is: busy schedules are great up to a point. But don’t mistake activity with results. You should always keep an open calendar and carve out  substantial time to think. The more you think, the faster you can see the reality, however harsh it is. This way you might be able to do something about it.