The sweetness of doing nothing
It was a simple line really. Something I heard in passing from the lips of Julia Roberts in the film Eat, love, pray. It’s also a book by Sophie Minchilli. The words have kind of lingered close to me ever since. The sweetness of doing nothing.
On the surface of it, someone who is doing nothing might be called a sloth, a recalcitrant or simply a slack toad.
But what if there is something else going on here? What if the person who is stretched out on the lilo or on the couch is just simply enjoying the sweetness of doing nothing? What if they are allowing the body, the mind and the soul to recuperate, rebuild and rehabilitate?
Your brain can only cram so much stuff into it before it says ‘Enough! I refuse to take on any more, for goodness sake write a few notes to yourself and shuffle some of that other ‘essential’ stuff into the coming weeks in your diary.
Further, you should schedule some serious time to just sit and enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing. Like the succulent flesh of a mango the sweetness of doing nothing will not only nourish your body, but also your whole being. Who doesn’t feel better after eating a mango?
And here’s another advantage of savouring the fruit of doing nothing. You are far more effective, far more productive, far more efficient and far happier when you come back to the desk, the yard or whatever your workplace happens to be.