How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:9-11
For me it is difficult to hide it and so I dare to publicly confess it: I like the dolce far niente (‘sweet doing nothing’,) ie inactivity. But that does not mean I spend a lifetime doing nothing. In fact, thank God I have much work to do and to this activity I dedicate at least 40 hours per week. This, above all, to maintain balance between family and work, in addition to other activities which, according to the usually accurate view of my beautiful better half, I dedicate too much time. One knows when we are allowing the flesh to guide our steps and our agenda, so we must never ignore the warnings of God’s Holy Spirit who dwells within us alerting us to get back to work. We better listen to Him because He is our Counselor, in fact, he is the best counsel that can be found in the universe and beyond, if it were possible to live outside the universe. We also need to be clear that we can not spend the whole time as if we were in frantic activity very similar to the washing machine spin cycle. God created both work and rest and to maintain a balance between these two categories of activity is a demonstration that we have received God’s wisdom, that one that comes from above.
It is likely that in most activities you will find yourself at either end of the spectrum, whether you work hard or do nothing at all because you are “resting.” Towards which of the two extremes you lean? Neither extreme is good. The optimum level is to keep a stable balance between these two positions so we can live in an integral way. Seek, therefore, the center of balance and let’s keep it as long as possible. You will have a better quality of life and your family will thank you for it. Only to God be the glory!
Hope for All 