How to (really) take/enjoy a day off?

Blaise Pascal wrote most men’s problems stem from the inability to sit still and do nothing. Busyness is in fashion. Apparently, having an empty schedule nowadays is a bad thing. I read in the great book Tribe that native Indian tribes in the US only worked for less than 10 hours a week. The rest of the time was idle.

We all heard that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Yes, it is definitely true but not exactly the way you would think it is. Boredom leads to restlessness and can lead to unwholesome actions. Idleness is not necessarily boredom. Doing nothing is not necessarily boring.

The choice to be idle. The choice to do nothing is the choice to be still. The choice to be chilled. The choice to be present. Doing nothing is really a thing. How many of us have gone on a holiday and seem to be doing even more things than during our workdays.

It’s insane how much emphasis we really put on doing instead of just being. Overworking, overdoing, overthinking… There is much to be said about this topic. Why can’t we just sit still and do nothing? How many of us feel guilty if we are not doing anything? How many feel like we are missing out if we doing nothing?

This fear is deep-seated. Most of us will live a life based on what we think society, our peers perceive us as and what we want them to perceive us as. We want them to see us as being busy grinding. We want them to see us as having a calendar filled with activities, networking events, corporate events, and things of that nature.

We want to seem like we are living a life that is full. And therein lies the issue. We want to live a life that is full and therefore we don’t have time left for emptiness. We fear that emptiness. We fear that “nothing”. As soon as we see something empty we need to fill up that emptiness with something.

If we see an empty room, we need to decorate it. An empty slot of time? Let’s fill it up with something to do. Sometimes, I wake up and I see my to-do list and then I realize that I can finish all the tasks quite easily, effortlessly, and quickly then the dreaded question comes to my mind.

What will I do with all that empty time? Isn’t it sad? That, we as human beings would dread a luxury such as empty time? A time that is given to us to relax, to recover, to enjoy the silence as Depeche Mode sang. By silence, I do not necessarily mean outside silence. I mean the silence of the stillness, of the enjoyment of this present moment.

Each one of us has a different way of enjoying a day off. Each of us has a different way of being still. Each one of us has a different way of enjoying the present moment. The most important thing is to let go of the guilt that can accompany the brave act of doing nothing.

It is an act of courage. In a world always pushing you to do more and more. Slowing down is a brave act. That is not an invitation to be lazy. Not if you are being idle all the time but to take a break, to truly take a break from everything you have been doing.

How many hours of work have you done this week? How many workout sessions? How many emails have you replied to? How many events have you gone to? How many times have you felt too tired but still used your willpower to do more? How many times have you failed to kindly listen to your heart and body when they told you to take a break?

It’s not about what you do and what you don’t do. It’s about the way you feel about all those things. Are you tired? Do you really want to do all that stuff? Have you not done enough this week? When you ask the proper questions you will get the proper answers. Why do you guys think meditation is so appealing? Because it’s finally a break from all that doing.

So please whatever your day off looks like. Every now and then, take one off but really take one off. Do what you REALLY want to do and don’t do what you REALLY don’t want to do.

Only you can know what is truly an ideal day off but most importantly don’t feel guilty, don’t feel nervous, do not dread the emptiness and stillness of the present moment. In that emptiness you find ideas, solace, rest, joy and peace.