“If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”
– If by Rudyard Kipling
Time is precious- this is the message drilled in me
A resource not to be squandered frivolously
So I’ve been conditioned to use every hour spent awake
Towards productive tasks, to keep every break
Reasonably short, in fact to fill my breaks wisely too
In getting some exercise or completing a mindless task or two
Sleep only as much as I absolutely need
Multitask as much as possible indeed..
To harness the power of time, and not let it reign
Over my life-I must stay productive AND sane…
*
The result is that I feel uncomfortable
Being idle, I am completely unable
To do nothing, I feel a guilt profound
I simply cannot wrap my head around
Being alone with my thoughts, I confess
I find myself anxious and restless…
An idle mind is the devil’s workshop, they say
When I’m idle, I have to push unseemly thoughts away..
*
So I was afraid of not having anything to do
I filled up my day, according to this view
Pushing past exhaustion, day after day
But feeling less fulfilled in every way
Until I happened to take a vacation to a place
That was off the grid, disconnected, I had to face
Unscheduled time, with resources few
I could not think of many things to do
Except spend time in nature with my thoughts
At first I found myself somewhat distraught
But over the next few days, I relaxed considerably
And my unscheduled life became heavenly…
Those non-productive days helped me reorient
Reorganize and prioritize things that were relevant
I returned from vacation, quite energized
Into high quality work I was promptly galvanized
*
There is virtue in work and virtue in rest
A balance of both brings out the best!
Passion...unbridled 