Meditations of a Lazybones Meditations of a Lazybones
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A Tiger Resting: the frontispiece for "Oriental Field Sports" by Samuel Howitt. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.
Wellbeing

Meditations of a Lazybones

Wojciech Mann
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I am a lazybones. That’s not me being cute; it’s the brutal truth.

I wouldn’t be particularly worried about it, as at retirement age this attribute is perfectly justified. After decades of honest work, every old person deserves the inalienable right to twiddle their thumbs and relax whenever they want to. Relaxing, resting, recharging run-down batteries – that’s what people (including me) need when they still want to take on some task from time to time. But for a true lazybones, that’s not how it works.

In order to relax properly, a true lazybones (reminder: me) doesn’t just need to rebuild their physical strength, but also to restore order in their head. To fully satiate your sloth, you have to eliminate the merest shadow of thinking about work. And how am I supposed to keep my thoughts in order when, for example, I take a week off during which even if I lie motionless, sprinkled with elegant water and fanned by beautiful women, thoughts surge through me about everything I have to do in a couple of days? Even increasing the intensity of sprinkling and fanning doesn’t help.

Well, okay, somebody will say. Take two weeks off, or a month. That’s what people do. Ha, ha, ha—people, maybe, but not lazybones. If I merely think about the amassing of things put off for ‘a month from now’, I go weak.

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The question is whether there’s any way out of this snare. Well, there is.

You have to create a situation in which doing nothing is a state independent of us, irrevocable and irreducible. A state in which there’s no repetition of reflections such as: “Man (here any other exclamation can be inserted), I’m lying on this bloody sand again, rather than quickly doing what I’ve put off, and no longer having to think about it.” How can we achieve such an unshakable alibi for mental motionlessness? I have a few suggestions, though citizens who are close to me in spirit will certainly make up quite a few more. Here are a few examples of simple situations that free a lazybones from pangs of conscience:

– we spend two or three days (the choice is yours) a week in a pension in the Alps, beautifully appointed but cut off by an avalanche from the rest of the world, and, of course, from the internet.

– we’re passengers on a luxury cruise liner, which, while waiting for help, drifts through the vastness of the ocean. In an attack of madness, the captain has ripped out the ship’s wheel and all the cables, making any communication impossible. The bars and restaurants are plentifully stocked.

– we’re spirited away by an incredibly charming princess (or prince) who’s fallen in love with us, to a mysterious land at the end of the world. We have everything except our freedom. The prince or princess’s feelings will last as long as necessary: thought-free relaxation guaranteed.

So using any of these examples, or creating new ones, modified but meeting the basic boundary conditions, will allow anyone to gather their strength without any fear that this process will be disturbed by untimely pangs of conscience.

Lazybones of the world—unite!

Also read:

Mindfulness Exercises for a Cold Day Mindfulness Exercises for a Cold Day
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Photo by: Aaron Burden/Unsplash
Wellbeing

Mindfulness Exercises for a Cold Day

Magdalena Róża Skoczewska

Positive reinforcement is the best way to combat self-doubt, negative thinking, and over-criticism. 

A Time of Transformation 

  1. Old things sometimes must decompose, decay, ferment or rot. Try to think about these natural processes in a positive way. Think about delicious pickles, fermented grape juice, dried mushrooms. 
  2. Now think about what you want to change in your life. Maybe it’s a relationship that’s worth ending? Maybe you want to change a job that doesn’t suit you? Get rid of bad habits? Or maybe you just feel that you need to clean out the basement? Choose one issue that is most relevant to you. 
  3. Once you’ve chosen one area to tackle, ask yourself what substance you’re lacking that would help carry out your plans. It could be water, yeast, air, potatoes, musk, rosemary, soda, etc. Let your imagination run wild. What are you missing right now? What form does the missing thing take? The hint is sometimes hidden in the language—we are talking about a lack of financial liquidity or a need for stability. 
  4. Which type of matter did your imagination suggest to you—liquid, gas, or solid? What does it symbolize? What does this symbol mean to you? Meditate on introducing this substance into your situation and think about the change it will cause. Maybe it will make you go with the flow? Or maybe it will allow you to put down roots?

Positive Reinforcement 

  1. What gets stronger within you when you think badly of yourself or see only the negative side of your life? Try to answer this question. 
  2. If you are already aware of what you are reinforcing with such thoughts, think about whether this is what you want. 
  3. Now think about what qualities you would like to develop within yourself. These can be independence, empathy, creativity, etc. For this activity, choose one of the traits that comes to mind, and then think about what behaviors you can adapt that will reinforce it. These can be small actions. 
  4. Positive reinforcement is the best way to combat self-doubt, negative thinking, and excessive criticism. However, remember a very important rule: only strengthen the qualities that you actually have, not the ones that others would like to see in you. By trying to develop unrealistic qualities, you could harm yourself. So first think about who you really are and what you want to nurture within yourself. This is necessary for positive reinforcement to have a chance to work.

Defense Mechanisms 

  1. Our brains produce a plethora of defense mechanisms that help us get through life’s difficulties. The challenge in this case is to leave the mechanism behind when we no longer need it. The problem is that we are usually not aware of the defense mechanisms that are forming—and the ones we created in the past sometimes make us overreact. 
  2. Think about a time when you have behaved poorly to a situation and your reaction was exaggerated. I know it might not be easy —after all, we are often not aware of these mechanisms. 
  3. If you have already recalled such an event, think about what was really behind your behavior. What did you try to hide from yourself? Maybe you were ashamed of something? Maybe you actually felt angry with a completely different person? 
  4. Observe your reactions to different situations. If you find them inadequate, this is the first step to positive change and leaving behind the old defense mechanisms that are no longer needed.
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