Not doing anything at all: it seems to happen less and less in our lives. Our work and social life usually take up most of our available time. We like to spend our time doing ‘useful’ activities. The train journey to/from work is often dedicated to working on our laptop. Or we’re reading a newspaper. If we have to wait somewhere, our ‘useless’ waiting time will be quickly transformed with an app, phone call, email or text message. There is always something to be done or to be arranged. This poses no real problem in itself, until we realize that these busy moments start to dominate our lives.
We live in a society where the emphasis is mainly on action and result. Our lives sometimes overflow with all kinds of appointments and time-consuming events that we strongly believe are all very important. A crowded diary nowadays is increasingly associated with success and a dynamic life. Peaceful ambience is seen as old, tired, bored, stale and the opposite of moving on/getting ahead. We would all like to lead an interesting life. An evening on the couch does not sound like a dynamic way of spending our time. These types of thoughts ensure that we will not commit to a simple moment of peace and quiet. We simply do not interpret this as a useful way of spending our time. Except when all other activities become too overwhelming.
If we don’t make well thought out choices from time to time between moving on and resting, growth and staying put, we run the risk of losing contact with ourselves. We lose our balance in life. The result is, among other things, restlessness and “not feeling at ease with ourselves”. We might even suffer from burnout. By taking enough time out of our busy daily schedules to stand still and think about – and process – what happens to us, we’re able to digest events more easily. We’ll experience a larger inner space, which enables us to see more clearly what we think of our current situation. New ideas can take shape. Thoughts can run free. We can lose ourselves in a bit of daydreaming. Take some time out, just for you.
Preventative laziness: interesting enough to create entries for this on a regular basis in our diaries?
