It’s unfortunate that most of us don’t give “nothing” a second thought.• It’s nothing.
• Nothing matters anymore.
• All I’m left with is nothing.
• Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.
• I feel like nothing.
• He started with nothing.
• He’s got nothing but time.
• I’ve got nothing left to give!
• You mean nothing to me!
• It’s all or nothing!
• He’s done nothing with his life!
For most of us “nothing” represents that feeling inside when we haven’t done our best; that bank account balance when we wrote one check too many. In our attempt to achieve something, to buy something, we created “nothing”.
Every day each and every one of us gives up our most valuable asset (time) in exchange for something we believe, hell, know we want. Maybe it’s for a big fat paycheck that we put in sixty hour weeks. Maybe it’s for the 9 to 5 job that keeps a roof over our head and food on the table. Maybe it’s because we want to climb Mount Everest or run a marathon. Maybe it’s in search of our “soul mate”. But in the end I promise you you’re going to be holding “nothing”. Every beginning has an end, every object can be broken and no one lives for ever.
Of course you could opt to stay in bed this morning. “Hey Sam. What did you do this weekend?” “Ah, nothing. Just stayed in bed and took it easy.” “Wow, lucky you! I had to work a double shift.” For many of us “nothing” is our reward when we’ve done a lot of something. “Whew, I just want to veg out and do nothing, I deserve it.” We don’t seem to know how to treat “nothing”. If someone does “nothing” all day, day in day out, society calls him a loser. If however, we go to a job and punch a time clock to make money to buy things we probably don’t want or need anyway so we can have “nothing” in our pockets, we’re said to be normal.
Sounds crazy, doing something you believe you have to do to buy things you’re eventually going to lose, break, give away, throw away or treasure so much you lock them up in a safety deposit box to keep them safe. Then you die and lose them anyway. Does the guy who doesn’t want to get out of bed got it right? Maybe, but eventually he’s gonna get hungry and have to crawl out of that bed. Heck, try this experiment next time your boss gives you your two week vacation, try to spend it all in bed. I mean every second. Have someone bring you food and change your bed pan. Trust me when I say this, but doing “nothing” as a job will kill you. In fact, it’s harder to do than something. In a recent study boredom was the #1 cause of depression. Sunday, our day off, our day to do “nothing” was the #1 day people “off’d” themselves. They went from people with “nothing” but time to “nothing” more than a statistic.
Someone once said when something becomes “nothing” it becomes something. Translation: when we lose something or have it taken from us it has meaning to us. Wouldn’t it have been better if we didn’t have to lose it to appreciate it? We should give “nothing” its rightful honor on a pedestal to remind us to be grateful for what we have and those we have to share it with. Please don’t get caught having to take “nothing” off its pedestal to remind us how lucky we used to be. Leave it on its pedestal to remind us how lucky we are now. Don’t dwell on what you used to have and wish for it back because before you turn around there will be something else you have or love that will be gone. Love now. Appreciate now. Be grateful now.
“Nothing” is our reward for too much something. “Nothing” is our punishment for not enough something. “Nothing” is a gift to remind us how lucky we still are to have the things and people in our lives before they are gone.
Never again forget the importance of “nothing”.
