4 mar 2012

taking a break isn't easy. it's a cliché because it's true - we live in a rush-rush world where everyone's always meant to be productive. like so many things in our modern day world, what started as a laudable goal has gone awry - the puritan work ethic gone mad. i mean, c'mon. even the puritans took time off.

today has been one of those restless restful days. i've made breakfast and cleaned it up, been to the grocery, cooked next week's lunches, had some lunch myself, balanced the checkbook and paid the monthlies, finished up ford county stories. it's not like i've done nothing, but nothing i've done was forced, nothing on a deadline. i didn't run, didn't work out at all, purposefully taking a day off. i didn't start on the income tax or clean up the mess of filing. didn't wipe down the fridger. didn't install that ceiling fan... okay, the list of things that i didn't do could easily fill several pages.

but that's the point. there are always things we didn't do. you're never going to get done with everything that's waiting on you. it's just not possible, probably wasn't ever possible, even for the puritans. that's not what the work ethic is about, anyway. it's about giving your all to your work, doing your best at everything you undertake, not being a slacker. it comes down to not selling yourself short, not letting yourself down.

it's got nothing to do with that damn ceiling fan. it's about doing well the tasks you take on. it's not about fretting over the tasks you didn't get to.

in a bit, we're going for pizza and beers. we've earned 'em. after all, it's been a solid day of productive rest.