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It is a rare day when yours truly decides making the most of the day means doing as little as possible. But that is exactly how I spent my day -- doing not much of anything. And it felt good!
When my girls were young, they'd frequently whine "Mommy, I'm bored" But, it was more like "Mommy, I'm booooooooooored" To me, that was like the proverbial nails on the chalkboard. I'd bristle from the inside out. As they got a bit older I began to verbalize my heretofore unspoken response to their whine: "I wish I knew what that felt like -- for just one day."
The reality of the girls' boredom was not that they had nothing to do - it was that they had so many things they could do but they didn't feel like doing any of them at that particular moment. Well, today I entered their world - sort of - I had plenty of things I could do. I had plenty of things I like to do. I had plenty of things I should do. But I chose to not do any of them.
I slept late and when I woke up, I took my sweet time getting up and moving! I savored my morning coffee, put on some of my favorite music and watched the snowflakes drift past my window while birds chirped and flitted in the trees. I poured a second cup of coffee and went back to my view of the birds, trees, winter sky and snowflakes.
Eventually I decided I should interact with at least one human being today so I made a long-distance phone visit to my parents. (Had the weather been more cooperative this week, I would have been in Pennsylvania visiting them today but.... that was not meant to be.)
Lest you think that I really did absolutely nothing today, let me assure you that because I was in town after all, I did attend a "Throughput Task Force" meeting at work. But that is about the only thing of substance that I did until I began to post this blog entry.
By doing as little as possible today, I found a new way to make the most of a day -- Usually I try to pack so much into each and every moment of every day. It's no wonder that sometimes I feel totally exhausted. If I am perfectly honest with myself, it felt good to do not much of anything today. I was not bored. I did not feel guilty. I felt as though I was, in some strange way, making the most of this day!
All of that being said, I am off to read until I fall asleep for tomorrow's another day...
Since I retired a few months ago, I'm still trying to get used to days with nothing planned. I worked at such a hectic pace for so many years that I thought I would revel in all the "free" time. Truth is, I'm having a hard time finding my rhythm. That's the only quasi resolution I made for the new year--to make the most of the time I have. And to find a way to do that without a constant busyness to keep me from feeling guilty for not really working. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteIt certainly does, Susan! I think strong women spend so much time in the busyness of life that when they find a glimmer of "down time" they are just conditioned to feel as if they are not doing anything - when in fact they are centering, re-focusing, rejuvinating, or perhaps just plain resting. I dream of days of retirement when there is nothing but "free time" but, like you, I am fairly certain I'll have the same difficulty "finding my rhythm" - maybe by the time I reach that point, you'll be able to give me some helpful hints! :)
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