The Wednesday Pop - vol. 7 . . . It's Hammock Time

My Dad is a smart man.  I've told you that before.  He has a lot of things figured out, and it may surprise you that he is also the world's great rester.  Yes, rester.  He has an unbelievable talent with rest.

He is able to take a short nap in almost any place you could imagine!  He naps on the couch in his office.  He can nap on the ground during a picnic.  He once found a room away from the action and napped while we spent the day at my kids' school!  He's a champion rester!

He slips away from a family gathering, finds a bed, has a rest and gets involved in the conversation again, faster than you would believe.  While the rest of the folks sit around complaining about all that needs to be done or yawning lazily as the conversation lags, he takes a nap!  Oddly enough, when he arises, he's whistling a happy tune and running circles around the rest of us!

I love a good hammock - I assume everyone does - but no one has the relationship with the hammock that my father does.  He is one with any hammock he has ever met!  So, here is where I relate my unbelievable trip to Nicaragua to my Dad's love for resting . . .

In Nicaragua, there are hammocks everywhere!  Unlike our backyard hammocks, swaying alone in the breeze, these hammocks are used and used all of the time!

Are the folks in Nicaragua lazy?  Are they trying to dream away their work?  Do they not have enough to do?

Nope, that's not it.  They have plenty to do, just like my Dad.  Funny thing, though . . . they've figured out that more gets done when one is rested.  They've also figured out that a body and a mind needs rest and that sometimes just dreamily watching the waves or praying or meditating right in the middle of a day is a very good thing.

Once on my trip, I found myself in a hammock.  (Well, actually more than once I found myself in a hammock, but that's not the point here.)  I was talking with another friend on the trip, and we were discussing how odd it was to 'just rest' right in the middle of the day.  I began to think about Pop, my Dad, and something very important dawned on me . . . 

He might rest more than anyone I know, but he also gets more done than anyone I know.  What's up with that?  Apparently, my Dad and some friends in a far away land have discovered something that the rest of us busy people don't yet understand.  

It makes sense to rest in the middle of the day when a body and a mind get tired or when the sun beats down so heavily that simple movements are difficult.

Folks who rest more, do more.  It's that easy.  So, why don't I act on that?  Why don't you?  Why do we feel like we have to act busy all of the time?  Who's watching?  Why do we care?

Seems to me, I just visited with folks who understand far more than most of us.  They have cool, colorful hammocks at their houses, and they use them.

Sometimes they take to a hammock when they are tired from the morning's work.  Sometimes they get in side by side hammocks and have lazy visits, talking about whatever arises.  And sometimes, they just take a few minutes or a few hours and get away from their real world to spend a while with God or with themselves.  Sometimes they just rest.

I'm more than impressed by this talent.  I want to put into action what my Dad and my friends in Nicargaua already know.  

Resting is a good thing.  

A very good thing.  

I think we should start a trend.  What do you think?

List 17 - a few things that I think would be different if kids were in charge!

Earlier this week, I heard a good interview on NPR (I'm always hearing good interviews on NPR) about A Wrinkle in Time.  The host was questioning a professor about the book, its meanings and what the book was about.  At one point the professor got stuck on different themes in the book.  He chuckled about how hard it can be to break down a story's meaning; and then he said, "I've always said that if you want to write a book, but it's too hard for adults to understand, you should write a children's book."

Interesting.  I did not hear the entire interview, but I kept that comment with me, long after turning off the radio.  I can easily accept the prof's statement.  I agree that sometimes we allow so many things to come into our brains, that we might just be too overwhelmed to notice some of the simple things that slap us in the face day after day after day.

And that got me thinking . . . wondering . . . are there obvious truths that kids are able to recognize that we miss?  Are kids actually smarter than us?  (Children of my own - if you are reading this, it does not apply to anything about rule-making as pertains to your current life.)

Sometimes they are.  Sometimes children pick up on things that our cluttered minds are too busy to see ... or feel.

I decided today's list should be a few things that might be different if kids were in charge; if kids had helped us more from the beginning:

1. We would take breaks more - if we found ourselves in the middle of a hard, tiring task, we would know that it's good to break it up with something fun, relaxing or restful.
2. Every now and then we'd eat ice cream for dinner.  Period.
3. When we got the urge to laugh uncontrollably, we would; even if that meant Coca Cola coming out of our noses or having to get up and grab our bellies.
4. We would learn more about what we wanted to know.  If something interested us, we would keep questioning, delving and searching until we found the answers that satisfied our curiosity.  
5. 'I' and 'e' would be in the same order in every word.  Letters would have one sound and one sound only.  There would not be silent letters, and 'y' would either be a vowel or not.  
6. We wouldn't determine whether or not we were going to do something depending upon how recently we had showered.
7. Sprinklers would frequently be used to enhance moods, causing laughter and better days.
8. We would do a lot of things 'just for the fun of it.'
9. We wouldn't work so hard on keeping things quiet, except when it was necessary.  Eating lunch in the cafeteria?  We'd be talking to our friends.  
10. We would trust our instincts more.
11. We would allow ourselves and others a bit more daydreaming time.  Every second wouldn't 'count' and we wouldn't be trying to fill it, no matter what.  We would get the value in doing nothing, especially to re-coup when we are worn out.
12. We wouldn't be so suspicious about everything and everyone.  We would have more trust.
13. We would know ourselves better.
14. In school and in church and whenever we were learning, we'd act out more and use our hands, because we'd remember that we have to do that to really learn.
15. We'd smile when we feel like it and not when we don't.  It wouldn't mean anything big, but we wouldn't be worried all of the time about how the world is judging us, each and every second.  

What do you think we might do differently if we took more cues from young people?  I wish you would add them in the comment section, so folks could see!