Being Lazy (a poem)

(Photo: Anoka Faruqee, Koenig & Clinton, New York)

 

Do you think that you are

being lazy

when you are not doing something?

Do you think that you are

wasting your time

when you are simply

just being there?

There’s nothing wrong

with just sitting still and watching.

Maybe real laziness

is when

your mind is unaware of its own reactions.

Or when you’re not paying attention to what is going on

inside you.

This is when you’re really asleep.

Quite frankly

your restless mental wanderings

have nothing to do with

knowing or learning anything.

However

if you allow yourself

to be watchful

of the trees

or the wind

or the people

or your breath

you can make some brilliant discoveries.

Using your breath is most convenient.

It is always there

and it immediately leads you

to the knowledge of what is happening

right now.

This is good to know.

For when the next time comes

that you are frantically pushing

or frustrated

or working all day to achieve what you want

you can get a little lazy

and just watch yourself

and

your breath.

 

Be Lazy — and hang out with my book of poetry on the breath, “Breathing into Life“.