Doing Nothing

Doing nothing. 

How many of you are comfortable doing nothing? 

Productivity seems to have been hard-wired into many of us, and for some claiming at least one productive activity a day alleviates the guilt we might feel for doing nothing. 

However, there actually may be a value to doing nothing, when it comes to our state of mind. I suppose you could literally sit there all day doing nothing, but you’d probably find it almost impossible. Back when I used to proctor the STAAR test we were given strict orders that the only thing we were allowed to do was to monitor the children who were taking the test. 

After hours of this you find yourself going a little stir crazy. I remember once attempting to make as many words possible in my head with the word Walmart whose letters were on the plastic bag holding one of the student’s lunch. 

The only place I’ve really ever been able to sit and do nothing was at our farm. Most of the time I need to be doing something with my mind, but the serenity I found just sitting there was like no other. 

The country is a peaceful place, but not necessarily a quiet place. As you slow down to the rhythm of what surrounds you, you begin to hear the sound of a gentle breeze as the leaves rustle in the trees. The sound of birds chirping, bees buzzing, cows mooing, and even the abrupt bray of a donkey are all available to those who allow themselves to soak it in. 

Add to this a sunny, blue Texas sky, with fluffy white clouds, and a perfect temperature in the seventies, and you have your own little slice of heaven!

Maybe the idea of doing nothing has more to do with not being so locked into all the “shoulds” of the world. Maybe doing nothing really is more a state of mind allowing us to choose our own down time, and not always thinking we have to be doing something. What is “nothing” for me might be completely different for you. 

Perhaps Winnie the Pooh said it most eloquently when he said, 

“Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”