By Lee Scott
My daughter called to say her husband had finally completed the renovation to their kitchen: new cabinets, new tiles; the whole HGTV redo.
She said that after he was done, he spread out on the couch and announced he was going to relax and “do nothing.”
She left to go shopping and when she returned home, she found him in the kitchen marinating a roast and preparing fresh vegetables.
“What happened to your relaxing?” she asked.
“I just could not keep still.” he replied.
It was after she told me about this occurrence that I shared my recent “do nothing” experience.
It had been a very hectic week and it was my time to relax. The hammock hanging between the two large pine trees in our backyard was calling me. I stretched out in it and started to get comfortable when I realized I was missing a stick to help me swing.
Knowing there were some sticks in the garage that would fit the bill, I went in and found a rake instead.
As I was heading back to the hammock, I noticed all the pine cones under it, and decided since I had a rake in my hand, I should just gather them up. That’s when I noticed the garden next to the pine trees was also full of pine cones.
I went back to the garage, grabbed a large garbage pail and proceeded to rake up the pine cones and scoop them into the garbage can.
The garden looked so good, but did need a bit of weeding. Back to the garage for my gardening gloves and some garden tools.
I plucked the weeds and then picked up the camellia blossoms that had fallen from the nearby bush.
The garden looked so good, but needed some watering. Back to the garage for the hose.
As I stood there watering the garden, I realized the hammock was getting watered also. That is when it hit me! What happened to my “do nothing” time? How was I suddenly up again doing something and ruining my down time?
As I continued to water the flowers, I realized how relaxing it was to stand there and enjoy the sight of the garden.
So I told my daughter, “As it turns out, sometimes ‘doing nothing’ means doing something you enjoy. Enjoy your dinner, Faith.”
