Lazy Day 🎶 sounds lovely – if you’re of a certain age, the song comes to mind immediately (Spanky and Our Gang 1967). It conjures up visions of a delightful picnic, shared with loved ones, under a shade tree on a beautiful sunny day. There’s no rushing off to do anything, nothing pressing, just the enjoyment of being alive on a pleasant afternoon.
At last you don’t feel like you’re running late, falling behind, rushing to get more done, yet not feeling the satisfaction of having done anything at all.
Slowing down allows you to be more peaceful, more mindful, which allows you to think more clearly. As you become more aware of your environment, others will become more affected by you – calmness is actually contagious if you hold the space for it.
Have you noticed yourself becoming less productive the more you speed up? Like the proverbial cat chasing its tail, “busy” becomes an end in and of itself. Being busy can create a veil of importance – but upon closer examination, possibly lacks substance.
Sometimes we use “busy-ness” as a distraction: from feeling emotions, from meeting and dealing with challenges in our lives, from really thinking about the important questions that give our lives true meaning. Sadly, it is very often used to overcome the feeling of worthlessness.
Even if we are constantly on the go because we want to wring out as much experience in life as we can, what are we sacrificing in order to do so? Maybe significant relationships? Certainly, our health – if you’ve been reading our blogs, you know the dangers of living perpetually in the sympathetic nervous system (think fight or flight). With adrenaline and cortisol pumping continually, we are at risk for high blood pressure, impaired immune function, hormonal imbalance, etc.
For a while, why not try the gratification that comes with living an inch wide and a mile deep, instead of the other way around?
On the opposite side of the coin, yet producing some of the same results, is laziness. One can avoid responsibility and accountability by being unwilling to do anything (as opposed to being distracted from the same by doing too much). It’s possible to side-step feelings of unworthiness here, too, because it’s hard to fail if you do nothing.
Of course, there are different causes of/reasons for laziness. It can be a simple matter of physical well-being, or rather lack thereof. Low energy could be the culprit due to lack of sleep, lack of exercise, lack of adequate nutrition, or other, similar issues. Maybe it’s just a question of procrastination…and then there are matters of mindsets, motivation, even depression….
“Too busy” or “too lazy” can have very deep roots, even originating with the “Victim.” If you believe you are not worthy of thriving, you may be dealing with this archetype. Every Victim needs a Villain – and there are plenty of Villains to keep us occupied – the most powerful and insidious being our own thoughts and emotions, especially fear. (For a more in-depth look at this archetype, see this recent posting: https://www.facebook.com/dawncady.mindsetcoach/posts/726933524562160?__tn__=K-R, and there is invariably something interesting being explored regularly at https://www.facebook.com/dawncady.mindsetcoach/)
Maybe it’s time to insert an enthusiastic “lazy day” into your busy schedule☺
We always invite you to share your comments on these and other subjects, and we are always here to answer questions you may have….
