Nothing more vs nothing less

She was always a go go go kind of girl

A minute stood still was a minute wasted

There was just so much to see,

so much to do

so much to be!

That’s when she met him

He was lazy

Did things his own way

But still seemed happy

She looked at him and understood nothing.

Funny how two very different people’s lives can keep crossing

While she was working at the local diner he was ordering lunch.

While she was getting A’s in Ms. Polly’s biology class he was a row behind getting solid C’s.

While she was mowing her front lawn he was across the street drinking lemonade on his.

While she was on the field playing sports he was in the bleacher with a couple of friends.

And one summer’s day, while she was hiking he was napping under a shady tree

She finally asked

“How can you do it?”

He peeked out from under his cap, looking only mildly surprised to see another person in the middle of the woods.

“Do what?”

“How can you sit there and do nothing? Sit there and accomplish nothing? Sit there and be nothing?!”

“Hmmmm”

He paused for a moment

“Have you ever tried it?”

Ok, that was not the answer she was expecting

“Well… no…”

He didn’t say another word, just shifted a little to the left

But it was a clear invitation to stay a while

Never one to ignore a challenge, she plopped herself down against the hard, uncomfortable trunk

She leaned against that tree

And she sat

And she sat

And she sat

Until she was bored

And then she sat some more.

She began to hear the birds chirping, and the stream running

She began to smell the pine and the wildflowers all around them

She began to see all the leaves in the trees and the little critters scampering by

She began to breathe in the fresh air

Until she wasn’t bored anymore,

Until she felt at peace.

And then,

she looked at him and understood nothing,

Wonderful, beautiful nothing