#111. Inaction

My wife and I have recently moved to a new apartment. It has been a couple of months now, and both of us agree that this place has a lot of benefits. We have most required amenities nearby, we get to go on walks together during the weekends and we get fresh vegetables just opposite to the building we live in, which makes life a lot more convenient.

While all of these are great to haves, another one of the best things about this apartment is the terrace. We live on the floor just beneath it, so it is just one flight of stairs. It is always open, so no restrictions for the time of day we can visit, and the weather deeply sweetens the pot.

Oh, have I not remarked about the weather yet? Well, see for yourself.

I was never one to pay attention to the clouds or the sun, but now I do. Maybe it is by the virtue of me getting older, but I truly enjoy looking at the sky. It makes me realise the vastness we are all a part of. It always gets to me that there is a source of so much creativity that we can tap into at any time of the day, because it is always there. No need to call someone, order it from an app or write the code.

I am not a big fan of the rain, but the clouds preceding it are just incredible to look at. There is almost imperceptible movement in them, which we only realise if we were to stay completely still.

Not just physically, but mentally still. Our brains only perceive the movement through our eyes when they have the ability to be immobile, even if it is just for a few seconds.

I get to enjoy these small pleasures of life on weekends and holidays. This week, I was fortunate that I had a holiday on a Wednesday, giving me the perfect break to regroup. I happened to be enjoying this very sight for a couple of minutes, only to realise that I had to resume work on Thursday, and that is when my brain went into overdrive again.

Upcoming meetings, projects and engagements crowded my brain, and I started pacing about on the terrace.

I have so much to do, how can I spend time looking at clouds?

And this is when I realised..

We have become so used to doing something or the other at every point in the day that we are forgetting the benefits of inaction.

Think about it, eight hours of work (supposedly), an hour commuting, followed by the innumerable chores that only accumulate till we dive head first in them. And when we finally get through everything for the day, we think we are ready to do nothing, and that is what we do, right?

We don’t really.

What we think of as doing nothing is doomscrolling through social media or binging the latest TV series on our favourite streaming platforms.

That is not doing nothing, and I feel it is worse. What we consider inaction actually uses our energy, and does so in a fashion where we aren’t conscious of.

There is tremendous upside to inaction, whether we speak of it in the social, professional or familial.

I am sure everyone can recollect an instance at work where you returned from vacation to find a problem you had left solved itself. Or a time where a family member angrily approached you to complain about something and you just listened. Didn’t solve anything, just listened and observed as the anger melted away into a smile as the subject naturally changed.

See, tremendous upside.

I am not suggesting lethargy or escapism. I am suggesting a deliberate delay or avoidance of action in situations which if we were to observe silently would unfold in a positive outcome, which would not be the case had we meddled.

We take credit for the consequence of our actions, why not for our inaction as well?

The secret to a good life: a perfect blend between action and inaction.

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one. 🙂