i pledge to Do Nothing

“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

     Yesterday was ridiculous.   I had soccer in the horrid rain all day.  The rain turned all six soccer fields into a messy but quite entertaining debacle.  Kids were slipping and sliding all over the place.  Two bloody noses later, we had to call off the rest of the games for the day.  One field was so bad that we couldn't even see any green splotches of grass by noon.  The parents just wanted to get home, but the kids absolutely LOVED the muddy atmosphere.  They didn't care that their shoes would get stuck in the mud or that their faces were completely covered with it.  All they wanted to do was kick the ball around and get as dirty as humanly possible. 

     I feel the need to comment on one of the kids from the 11:30 game.  It was halftime and he stood on the field waiting for his teammates.  As my coworker was about the blow the whistle, this particular child let out a long stream of sound.  Yes, sound.  It wasn't words.  It was seriously like Tarzan swinging through a rain forest.  This "sound" seemed to be like a vocal exercise that a singer would use.  A very inexperienced/horrible singer.  It lasted for about 30 seconds while everyone, including his coach, stared at him.  My coworker and I busted out laughing so hard that we can't breathe.  Then, the little kid says with a sheepish smile, "What?  I'm just really excited to play soccer!!"  Afterwards I talked with his mom about it.  She said that her son makes the most out of each minute no matter what he does, apparently Tarzan sounds included :)

    Graduation looms like a black widow around the corner and it makes me think about the quote at the beginning of this entry.  Time flew by so fast this semester that it left me little time to "Do Nothing" as Pooh puts it.  I read Winne the Pooh for a class last semester and we talked a lot about what that really means in our world today.  As Americans we don't take the time just to sit and enjoy life.  We constantly worry about our future.  We desperately need to take the time to Do Nothing, otherwise, we can't appreciate life to the fullest.  Our souls hurt if we don't.  Oddly enough, as kids you see this more and more.  They are more in tune to the idea of "Doing Nothing" and embrace it.  Kids see what grown ups don't with their pure innocence.  Just like the Tarzan boy, I'm learning to be okay with the idea of pausing my life for a bit and taking a moment here or there to actually breathe.

Don't be afraid to soak up what life has to offer.