do nothing

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Is A Free Day Truly Free Or Does It Come With Strings?

Have you ever had a free day but didn’t feel free to do nothing? 

is a free day truly free or does it come with strings

There is something about a free day that screams, “Do something!” but if you do nothing, you feel like you wasted it. 

Today is one of those days for me. Lily is out of town, it’s my day off and I don’t have anything I have to do. 

When I was in my teens, a free day meant I would sleep in until at least 11 am. You see, I would prepare for my free day by staying up really late the night before. So naturally, I would be comatose when the morning came around. 

Now a day off comes mostly with responsibilities or tasks that should be addressed. 

I don’t think I ever have a time when there isn’t something I should do. I may not have to do anything particular that day but I should get something done.

Today is one of those days. I don’t even have Lily around encouraging me to do this or that. Her voice is not in the background suggesting I get moving on some project. She’s not suggesting that I accompany her to the store. She’s not here to tell me it’s a good time to get the Christmas lights up. 

… And what is it with Christmas lights now? People start putting them up the moment Hallowe’en is over. It’s kind of like they share the same container and before they can put the Hallowe’en decorations away they have to unpack the Christmas lights. 

I saw a car the other day with a Christmas tree strapped to the roof. My first thought was, “How in the world is a real tree going to last until Christmas Day?” That has the makings of a fire written all over it. Those pine needles will be so dry that they will make good kindling for even those low-powered LED mini-lights. 

But I digress. 

I have this free day and find myself unmotivated to do anything. I did play hockey in the morning but that doesn’t count since it is a regularly scheduled event on my calendar. 

When I think really hard, there are three things that I should do today – writing this blog is one of them. 

But I don’t feel like doing anything. 

If I sat down and thought about it, I could put eight or nine things on a to-do list, but I don’t even want to make that list. It will put pressure on me to do something, and then if I don’t work on that list, the day will be a failure. 

No, a free day should be free – free to flow as it unwinds, free to be lost in whatever you are doing, free to not think of anything but the present. 

I can’t remember the last time I felt this way. 

Maybe it’s been building. I don’t think I’ve had a day in a long time where I didn’t have responsibilities to deal with. 

… Well, it looks like I just did something. I wrote this post. 

Here’s the thing: There is not a lot in life that is free, but God did give us free choice. We can choose to love Him or not. It is up to us. Choose wisely because that one choice also determines your eternity.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do with a free day? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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How a Plan Would Have Improved My Day

Maybe it was the weather that made me lazy, but I sure needed a plan last Saturday. I felt like I accomplished nothing, like I wasted my precious day off, like I frittered away the day.

plan

That doesn’t happen every day to me because most days of the week I make a plan. I have things that I want or need to get done and so I put them on my reminder list or right into my calendar.

Some people can keep it all organized in their heads, but I need to write it down. I like to see it and check it off.

Saturday was different for me; I wasn’t motivated to do anything. Well, I was … I wanted to go for a bike ride but the rain put an end to that dream, and with it any motivation to do anything else.

It was like I was thinking, “If the weather’s not going to let me go biking, I’ll show it. I’ll do nothing instead.” I didn’t actually think that, but in hindsight that was what I was doing.

I spent my day getting lost in the new iOS for my phone and iPad. I’d look at the time every once in a while and shake my head, but then go back to the nothing I was doing.

There were a couple of things I did during the day but they weren’t things I scheduled. They were things that others scheduled for me, and they didn’t give me a sense of accomplishment.

All I really needed to do was to spend about ten minutes writing a few things down and that would have changed the pattern of my whole day. I would have gone from floating through the day to having some kind of purpose.

Having a simple list of things I wanted to work on or complete would have also changed how I felt about my day. I would have progressed through it instead of being annoyed at how the time was advancing.

I can’t figure out why I would keep doing something – in this case nothing – that I didn’t like doing and not do something about it. (I hope I didn’t hypnotize you with that sentence!)

But that’s what lack of planning does – it keeps one stuck in the past/present while time is still moving. It’s like for me, time was standing still, but in reality time was passing me by.

I could say that I was tired and I needed a day of nothing, but why, at the end of the day, didn’t I feel good about the nothing I did? No, even planning one or two things would have brought me fulfillment.

Here’s the thing: If you’re not planning God into your day, either connecting, growing or serving Him, you will float along in your relationship, stuck in the past/present with Him. Time will keep moving while your relationship will be standing still. Simply thinking of how to include Him in your day is all you need to improve your day.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has planning made a difference in your life? Leave your comment below.