The Virtue of Being Lazy

The world I live in is ruled by To Do lists and schedulers, in the Zen of humming dishwashers, or the power of drying your own dishes. It’s the lot of many an Organic Freedom, Smart Freedom and to some extents Funs that we are surrounded by busy bees. So many blogs and videos on the Internet show or write about doing things to improve your life. But hardly anyone writes about the joys of their warm and cozy bed or the deliciousness of sleeping in, or the thrill of deliberately not going to bed early.

So it was with some excitement that I discovered an article from a Buddhist magazine about the good things about being lazy. They call it “looking into” laziness which I guess is a Buddhist way to talk about how there are positive things about being lazy. I’m not really sure what they are as I’m being kind of lazy about this, but it gets very deep, which is probably why Buddhism isn’t for this lazy sod, but why I’m sure it appeals to many other of us “lazy” types. The biggest plus of being lazy that I can think of right off my lazy head is that it allows you the time to do things right, to not make hasty decisions and let your body get the rest and relaxation it deserves.

But  the real reason I’m such a proponent of laziness is that while getting a lot of things done in a day makes me feel good about myself in the moment, it’s not what I hold dear when I look back at my life. The times that I treasure are the moments that I have done nothing with the people I love. Sitting around on my bed with all the little creatures I’ve brought into this world, joking and laughing, or watching Star Wars with the family I came from, eating breakfast in bed with an old friend, or sitting on a bench with my grandma taking a break from touring Scotland. It’s the small moments of laziness, of rest and connection that I remember and treasure most. It’s the stuff that actually does get me out of bed most mornings.

And yes my Classics, Organic Structures and Smart Structures who rule and run this great country, if I’ve got to get up out of my warm and cozy bed and go “get things done!” then you’ve got to give me a few more minutes to “take it easy” and smell those darn roses. I suspect its the little moments of being lazy you treasure most too.