The Fine Art of Doing Nothing

There is a Spanish proverb that states, “How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterward.”  I don’t know about you but that certainly sounds inviting to me. How often do you take time to do nothing, to rest, to just be?  Rest from work, rest from play, rest from participating… again, or even rest from relationships?

It seems we Americans are plagued by busy-ness yet wonder why we feel tired, anxious, depressed, overwhelmed or any number of other feelings. Many of us are driven to one up someone else as to how much time we spend doing something, anything. Even our play has become work; something we have to do. Our time doing has become another national sport and everyone seems to be keeping score.

I recognize that I too can get caught up in doing. But, I have also noticed that when this happens my body gets angry and lets me know in one fashion or another. So, my goal is to take some time to do nothing and then rest afterwards… at least once in awhile. I have promised myself that this summer I will find a grass covered hillside which I will lie down on and just watch the clouds float by. I am confident that with a little practice I can make doing nothing a part of my life even if just for five minutes and as a result come back refreshed even if it means returning to more …. doing. I hope you too can find a little time this summer to just do nothing and when you are done to rest a bit.