Idleness is not essentially not doing anything, given the fact that there is no task as tedious as “doing” nothing. Nothing is an activity that is engaging by the singular fact that it has a staggering following. Scores of people love to “do” it (nothing.) Whenever you ask people what they have been doing and they tell you they have been doing nothing, it is because they are engaged and busy “doing” nothing
Intriguingly, “nothing” is an activity that requires the doer to be busy before doing it. And, yes, there is yet another slant on this: anything you do that does not bear a direct relation to your life’s work or impact maximally on your destiny eventually becomes nothing. It means you might be gainfully engaged, but if it has no direct correlation with your ultimate goal in life, what you are doing is called nothing.
There is a price for doing nothing. Life whips out of shape those who choose to do. Nothing has a strange herald, and it is called hesitation. Somewhere I stumbled on a thought:
On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of thousands who,
on the very threshold of victory sat down to rest; and while resting, died.
Not doing what you are supposed to do but busying yourself to do something else amounts to “doing” nothing. It is the point where something becomes nothing. Such a place is housed in the womb of idlers and loafers. Are there any persons who do not know what they are supposed to be doing in life? Not exactly. We tend to change our job description in life upon realizing that our path is relatively rough, but change of job description occasioned by self does not mean swapping places with another. None can truly become what you have been particularly crafted to be. What you have been called to be remains etched on your soul until you vacate the premises called earth, even if you refuse to fulfil it.
We must endeavour not to continue to suffer the tragedy of being actively involved in “doing” nothing. Since nothing can be done, it can be undone. We undo nothing by finding our place and addressing ourselves to the task for which we were hewn. We all come to life with our tools. Let us be sure that where we are and what we are doing are seamlessly tied to the garment of destiny.
If you have been “doing” nothing, undo it by toiling upward.