“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” – Winnie the Pooh

I never used to “get” Winnie the Pooh when I was a kid. I thought he was an idiot. My first impression of the stories of Winnie the Pooh, the characters and the writing was that it was all just a dumb collection of whimsical nonsense.

But now that I’m all grown up, I’m really starting to appreciate Pooh-isims. The simplicity of Pooh masks some really important and profound messages that I can definitely learn from.

Take the one above for example. Isn’t it a gem? I think it’s brilliant.

At the end of the day, everything that Pooh does is geared towards having fun and enjoying life. He may do some things that some “knowledgeable” characters (Owl, for instance) consider to be completely stupid and pointless but in my opinion, the simple way that he views things is magical.

He’s such a peaceful chap too, have you noticed that? He’s in complete harmony with his world.

Simplicity can be such a powerful thing.

Sometimes we need to un-complicate our lives and get back to basics. We need to remind ourselves that life is about more than making money, taking care of business, gaining knowledge, running around on errands, organizing “stuff” and worrying about everyone and everything.

Sometimes we just need to step back from all of that and just “be”.

That’s not an easy thing to do when you carry a lot of responsibility all the time and it’s something that I struggle with a lot. But today, I decided to Do Nothing. Today I decided to have a “me” day and for once, try to empty my mind of all the stress and burdens of my day-to-day life and NOT feel guilty about it. Today was about discarding all cleverness and complexity and appreciating the simplicity of a lazy Sunday. No pressure, no stress. Just the pure enjoyment of some time off from everything.

It feels good. It’s not a holiday, but it’s a little break from all the “stuff” that weighs me down and it’s been wonderful.

I must remember to do this more often …