End of the Day, painted from the model one day last year, before I checked it off my list. Click for larger views.
I once met a man with so much money he didn’t have to work. He’d volunteer for things, but when it got difficult, he’d drift away. He didn’t have to deal with all that. On the surface it was a perfect existence but, in fact, he wasn’t at all content. In a rare moment of honesty he blurted out: I wish I just had something to DO!
What a shock. We’d have thought a person with everything could do anything. What this one lacked, however, was the “have to.”
Without that, the old ghosts of “What’s life all about anyway?” begin to haunt and undermine our sense of worth.
Boredom is a Boogie Man of the soul. It’s a barren desert where nothing grows and there’s little hope for change.
Thankfully, there are certain signs around to remind us to get busy, like: “No Loitering.” We should inscribe that one inside our eyelids.
Another useful one we’re likely to find on maps at the mall:
“You Are Here.”
I always take that as a great reminder.
As somebody said, “Wherever you are, be there!”
Another classic: “Don’t just stand there . . . “ (you know the rest).
Once, when I was young and had the blues (I’d been jilted), my dad recognized it and in his wisdom counseled me to get busy. Just “get busy.” Like what? He invited me to ping pong with his friends. It wasn’t just ping pong, it was killer ping pong, like when you finish you need a bath . . . in linament. And it was very effective for beginning to pull me through my doldrums.
All this agrees with a passage in Ecclesiastes about the happy state of man: He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.*
GOD keeps him occupied. No wonder my To-Do list keeps filling up. No wonder I wake up with ten things to do and by night know I’ve only finished five, or two . . . but done ten others not on the list.
This is God keeping me occupied, and calling it a favor!
He knows that too much pondering is, well, too ponderous.
A busy person is a happy person . . . and vice versa.
A ship looks beautiful in a harbor; but ships weren’t built for harbors.
We are born to move.
So, get back to whatever you were about to do.
And recognize it as a gift.
_____________________
*Ecclesiastes 5:20 NIV
Next: “What I learned from Dad about Fishing.” Coming Sunday.
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
8:04 am
WWWowooowWWW! Hyatt! What a joyous blog this one was to get to wake up to today! Joyous for me because I love my life! I love to be busy in my life! I hate not being busy! I can’t understand it when people say, I am going to retire as soon as I can! Retire to do what?????????????????? To sit???????? Euuuuuuuuu! You would be so bored! Working is a joy! Even dealing with the hard ones (the difficult clients or workers) because it is in that trial that God shows Himself, His faithfulness, His purpose for you and your life, His undeniable everlasting peace!, His messages and teachings, and His presence like never before in your life! Only then! And you can’t get that by sitting there like a lump-retired!-retired from living!. Ha! Love Lisa
8:19 am
Aha Hyatt…. Serendipty, serendipty. I was just sitting here at work lamenting my ever growing to-do list and pondering how in the WORLD I was going to balance a pile of new challenges that have been thrown my way…..and what should pop up? Your blog post! Literally at that moment. Not only did it pop up, but I immediately stopped what I was doing and I read it. Ahhhhh, the serendipty.
THANK YOU for the reminder today. I love my job, and I am going to choose to see these new challenges as the blessings they are.
Best,
Stephanie
9:17 am
Joy is a great paycheck! It really is more fun to be thankful in the doing instead of a curmudgeon. They always look like they’re smelling something bad…maybe their attitude? Lord help me remember work is a gift that I get to unwrap every day :-)
9:48 am
Good stuff, Hyatt. And you came in from several doors to pass it on to us. I like that. One dedicated 70 something volunteer at my mother’s assisted living home passed on her wisdom to me one day when she stopped by to see mother. I inquired about her daily cheerfulness and exuberance. “Whenever I start to feel sorry for myself, I go out and do something for somebody. That’s all it takes.”
11:27 am
Loved your commentary – what to do???
Retired and hardly have enough time in the 24 hours that God has allotted me each day. so I say retirement is a blessing – NOT in disguise!
11:56 am
Let me see, should I respond or get up and do all the things I’ve been thinking about doing today?
2:17 pm
Good one, Hyatt! THanks for the reminder that we DO need to hear every once in while!
8:34 am
Great thought Hyatt…..just what I needed to start the day since my “to-do” list is rather long this week. Keep the messages coming. They are so practical and helpful.