On being lazy

There is a lot to be said for relaxing. Sometimes the best way to accomplish something is to do nothing. I am usually someone who tries to do multiple tasks simultaneously -- often called "multitasking." I will read the newspaper while I "watch" television, or I will type some e-mails while I cook dinner. Sometimes, though, I think everyone needs to just do nothing. I don't mean do nothing which really is something, such as watch a TV program or reading a book. I mean literally doing nothing. Then, after a bit of that, you can do something -- but that something should relax you.

I have spent a good part of this weekend doing nothing and then relaxing. In fact, the weather in Wenatchee today has been so glorious that I hardly accomplished anything. Well, I read the entire Sunday paper, I laid out in the sun on the chaise for a while thinking, I surfed around for a bit online, I watched some TV, and then, I did the relaxing something. I went back out to the chaise around 5 p.m., when the back yard is mostly shady but it is still pleasant out, and I read a magazine, one of several that have piled up recently. I normally would not spend so much time reading this, but that is what lazy summer days are for, right?

I have plenty of things to keep me busy, so it's not like I have nothing to do. I am not bored. Simply put, everyone needs to just be lazy every now and again. I've had the better part of a weekend being lazy, and I feel fantastic.

Now, as I head into a couple-week stretch that demands progress on a number of fronts, I think I am ready. I'll have been lazy recently. But the fine line between laziness and apathy must be avoided.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.