On Happiness & Being Busy

Since Monday's Happier Hour with Gretchen Rubin, I've been thinking a lot about happiness, what it means, what it looks like, feels like. And I've realized something. Being busy, busy doing things I love - writing, mothering, spending time with family and friends - makes me happy. In fact, I am most happy when I am running around, juggling these things. But. (There is always a but, isn't there?) But when I am too busy, taking on too many things, sleeping too little, I feel sluggish and slow and overwhelmed and not happy.

Does this sound familiar? Or am I just an overscheduled, overachieving Type-A city creature?

♥

For you, is there a connection between happiness and busyness? How do we stay busy enough to feel happy/engaged but also avoid tipping over into that excessive busyness that tends to stifle overall well-being?