Balance? The benefits of doing nothing

A glass of mediocre red wine in one hand, some chocolate to my side, and I am still writing this article. Now that’s what I call balance…or is it multi-tasking?

The word that possibly seems most challenging today is “balance.” Each one of us is trying to maintain a sense of balance in our lives yet the greatest opposition to all of this is “busyness,” our biggest nemesis.

We can all relate to the term “busyness.” Being constantly on the go, always doing something, just never ever stopping…yes, we are moms – this is us!

And through all of this, we still try to be the best parents we can be. All of us have one thing in common; we do not want to fail our children. We want the best for our children. We provide as many opportunities for them as possible. Academics, culture, sports, extra-curricular activities, a balanced diet, friendships, kids’ parties, entertainment, and we still try to do everything we need to do in order to be loving parents. It sounds like a lot. What I realized is that at times, it is a lot for both us and our children.

The other day my son and I arrived home after taking him to rugby skills. I mentioned activities we could do that afternoon: go for a walk, go to the dam, or visit someone. His response made me realize something. “Mommy, I do like all of those things but today I just want to do nothing.”

“Nothing, doing nothing…” those words resounded over and over and I realized that sometimes, with our busy lives and our children’s busy lives that perhaps the best answer is to just “do nothing.” When we think about balance in our lives, we always look at it as family, friends, work, diet, and exercise, but when do we add “do nothing”? Perhaps when we learn to “be still,” we will learn to master “balance.”

When we do nothing, it surprisingly allows for so much more to take place: