Idleness The Mother of Progress

"Idleness is the mother of progress. So long as men were busy they had no time to think of bettering their condition.

Idleness is the mother of art. It was when men had leisure from the chase that they decorated the handles of their hunting knives and the walls of their cave-dwellings.

We talk of all men's right to work. There is a deeper right than that. It is the right to idleness."

 

Dr.Frank Crane. I love his writings, he seems to have a balanced eye, a keen intellect, and creative perspective.  This feels very much like me right now.  I have taken a "step back" from my life, looking at what I am and what my life has been made up of so far.  What am I doing out of passion and what am I doing out of convenience? In this time I have seen more beauty and found greater understanding of myself, of life, of others.  Just as important as it is to speak it is to listen, life tells us things all of the time, our body tells us how it is, life doesn't scream at us, nor do our bodies.  We wear ourselves down slowly, we wear our patience thin, put more on our plates when we are already exhausted and then wonder why life isn't enjoyable?  Proceeding these findings we tell ourselves comforting lies, this is how life is, it's hard.  Not everything is going to be fun. 

I recently sat down to think of 3 people I know that love life, and their life is a testament of it.  It took me several minutes of sifting through faces and loved ones to come up with one.  Eventually I got to 3, but, I was surprised it took me that long.  Now it isn't that these 3 people didn't have hardships or heartaches in their lives for that matter, but, they kept living.  Not just surviving which is what most of us do but, LIVING!  Smiling even though they were sad because they still saw so much beauty around them.  They never lost their passion, and didn't curse the world for one bad thing, and they all seemed to immediately see the good just as easily as the bad.  They saw the love that remained, the support, and the wonders of life. 

When all is said and done, there is you.  You aren't your job, where you go, your hobbies, your talents, your kids, your families, your duties.  At any given time in life that can all be taken away, but you still remain.  Your body, your mind, your soul. You exist, if you were left all alone on this planet, would you wait to die, and suffer self agony?  Or would you enjoy the days, still thank God for your life? All that you still could enjoy? Something to think about.