Nothing can Sometimes be Everything

So, there was a show about nothing that was immensely popular. The writing was splendid, and the characters were so well cast, the show was a runaway success. There are times that nothing is just perfect. If the world won’t stop for us to take it in, sometimes we must stop ourselves. Nothing; the word can be beautiful, vilified, and can make people feel worthless. Tonight, it is how I feel about writing. Nothing is in there. It is not a terrible thing, it’s just a thing.

Work is how many of us define ourselves. We make the money, it is what we do, and where our friends come from. Oh, I know, there are also the friends from our kid’s sports teams, youth groups, and whatever else we have them do to shape their lives and give us solace that we are doing the best for them. How many of us can step away from our work and feel no guilt about not being there? For years, I took days for myself. When I started working with my hard driving spouse I mentioned it to her. “Ludicrous,” was her first response. Her second response was something to the effect of, “there is always work to do. How can we take time off to do things for ourselves? We will be so far behind.” As all great husband’s do, I pushed with the softest gloves I could find, and the first work day occurred. They are now an essential part of our monthly work schedule.

You see, there is always work that needs to be done. There is also work that must be done. The last thing we ever think about is the work we need to do for ourselves so that we can do the needed and must be done work. Nothing doesn’t mean that we don’t do anything. It simply means we handle things that get pushed off because the work never ends. Today was just one of those days. Nothing also doesn’t mean not handling the must be done work. It simply means we become the important thing for the day. Sometimes it’s the house, other days it is the barn, sometimes it is the real world, and then rarely it is an enjoyable husband and wife fun day. Although that is rare it is the ultimate goal as we become better.

I never want to do nothing. That has been tried but TV really sucks these days. Riding my motorcycle again sounds great, checking out a one tank drive seems splendid, and breakfast at a roadside café may just be the best start to a nothing day ever. We are all so busy, I really hate that word, we forget what it was like to be productive. Tomorrow is another day and the schedule is full. Today, was productive for me and that was cool. Not what I wanted to do but what had to be done for the day to be successful. Balancing the need to and has to is something that will be a continual learning experience. Pushing towards the end goal doesn’t leave much downtime but I have learned that having the great discipline leads me to great freedom. Nothing doesn’t mean doing nothing, it means doing what you want instead of doing what your told. Enjoy your weekend and I hope your nothing is exactly what you want.

Photo by Paul Rysz on Unsplash
Photo by Kimon Maritz on Unsplash