Ridding Business

After 12 years of running a business I have come to the conclusion that it was more like having business (like in having flu). Business has become a synonym for busyness. Being busy usually means that we have no time for other things. "Having no time" is a broadly valid misconception all by itself as I have pointed out in "I have no time". But that is another story.

Even although we are busy all the time it seems like we never get all things Done. "Done" meaning in time and to our own satisfaction (ignore all the other people for a moment). The state of being permanently busy is not a healthy one. We can be busy doing something special and focused for some time. But if being busy becomes a fundamental state of mind then something has gone wrong. As currently goes wrong with business in general. The system does not serve the people but exploits them. We need to change that. Doing things should be fun, not busyness.

Lets look at what "ness" means. Loch Ness is the home of a monster... but all the other nesses mean that something is in the general state of whatever-ness. It is stateful or has stateful-ness. An empty bucket is in a state of empty-ness (emptiness). Weird things are in a state of weird-ness. Nothing-ness is something beyond our comprehension but also a state. Just like cheerful-ness is a general state of happy-ness (happiness). So busy-ness (business) must be the state of being busy. And here we go - Tada: I am sick and tired of being in a constant state of being busy.

Because busy typically also means:

• occupied (as in a phone)
• bustling (as in hectic)
• operose (as in exhausting
• taken ( as in Taken
• ...

Proud of your own business? Are you crazy? Wanting more business is like wanting to become a madman.

Let me tell you about a weak analogy that I have learned from moving in space. There are two general terms to describe fast movement. "Speed" means to move fast but not necessarily anywhere in particular. Going *somewhere* fast is better described by velocity which is a directed movement. The analogy that I start to see is that being busy all the time usually ends in the pursuit of industrious activity that leads nowhere in particular. Visualize that hamster in a wheel and you know what I mean. Visualize the velocity of a missile as it homes in on its target and you know that it has found it's meaning. One single purposeful non-busy meaning. Kaboom.

In a world that fundamentally lacks meaning and purpose (as in the German word "Sinn") we have to cater for all meaning and purpose ourselves. Each one of us can only make our own sense. We have to make sense, else we go crazy. If the meaning of your life is senseless speeding like that of the the Ghostrider then being busy is probably fine. But if your self wants to get anywhere sensible, then you should better get yourself some sense.

Speeding ends on the road side. The analogy to where business invariably ends is a burn-out, depression and simple plain old sudden death by heart attackt. Being busy is not healthy and not sane. Purposefully planning for a constant state of being busy is deeply insane.

Thanks for your attention and I wish you all the best for your - well, let's not call it "business" anymore but "commercial activities".

=:-)

Have fun.