Happiness is doing, not having. It has long been said that the journey is more rewarding than the destination. I suppose if you’re flying to London for a holiday, that doesn’t really hold true. Physical journeys aside, the striving, the learning and the doing are often the crème de la crème, whereas the achievement, while at first euphoric, can tend to leave you feeling flat. Having, not doing. Depressing isn’t it? Why strive, only to feel flat?
I think there are levels of flat. Each level achieved offers a new flat space to rest on, to restructure, or re-examine. The more we aspire, embark on the journey of attainment, the more our flat times become places of rest and solace rather than places of refuge. The more we aspire, the more we appreciate downtime as necessary to further growth.
In years past, fallow farmland, one year untilled for two planted, ensured a healthy crop. The wise farmer, over generations observed this. We are as much part of the planet as the soil. It makes sense that we need such fallow periods, both physically and mentally. While the athelete acknowledges that rest is needed to sustain a healthy body, we of the mental persuasion often forget this vital detail. We wake up, we are thinking, so it’s all systems go!
Not so the farmer of old who understood the need for fallow times. It must have been hard to accept that his field wouldn’t produce anything for a year, although having a good stock of mead would have lessened his concern, but the wisdom was ingrained that if he did, the next two years would be bountiful.
Today, instant gratification being a high priority, we don’t have to lie low for a year. As the religious tenets teach, a day off once a week is necessary for mental well-being. I always wondered about priests. When was their day off? Seems the stringency of the Sabbath and the Christian Sunday wasn’t designed for all walks of life. Yet while the wisdom of such teaching is irreproachable, it is the meaning behind the message that applies to us today. The land must lie fallow.
So as we enjoy the challenge of the journey, and reap the rewards of attaining the destination, we can also recognise that downtime, the having, is a restorative place to live.
There are exceptions to the rule. Parenting seems to start with the having, and then the doing never stops.
4 responses so far ↓
The Original Susie // January 9, 2010 at 10:27 am |
I worked for the Sisters of St Joseph for many years and they were quite committed to the concept of “furlough”. They understood the need for regular, extended breaks. The Jesuit priests who worked with the order were of the same mind. In the beginning I found it quite foreign as Sisters would disappear for a month or two but over time I came to understand the value of downtime.
Now if somehow I could explain the concept of ‘furlough’ to my seven year old….
wollywally // January 10, 2010 at 12:09 am |
Beautiful post Gigdiary in this fast pace world more them before, is necessary to recharge” the battery” or we can go” flat battery” for so long and then disease set in, that’s why I tend to be religious these days about an afternoon nap, or siesta I like , many mothers I did let my battery got flat and I got sick, still recovering, one of my dream is to start a place where mother can have downtime a refuge for mother where they can go and nurture themselves and be nurture by older women for a week or two or until they are well, need the money to start something like that, love to all ooxx
Benita // January 11, 2010 at 3:57 am |
Gig, I think happiness is also in “Being”. Lately, thanks in part to a stint in the outback, I’ve connected with the little things in life, things that take little or no effort to appreciate: that unmistakable smell just before it starts to rain; the clink of a teacup as it comes to rest on the saucer, the slight rustle of the trees as daylight turns to dusk; taking a walk as night falls, and feeling the earth sigh as the day is done….
As I started hearing and feeling these things, I really started feeling a sense of contentment within myself. I felt as though I had really reached inside myself and discovered what is is just to “be”. And now that I’ve found it, it’s something that I look forward to doing every day. It’s comforting, it’s soothing, and it’s something I recommend you all try. Life is so busy and we never take the time just to “be”. Enjoy your life, and everything around you…
fender4eva // January 11, 2010 at 4:03 am |
Brilliant response BB, to a great post by the Gigmaster. Good reading from both of you…….