laziness

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I suppose that lazy people may be getting the most out of life, but it's hard for me to imagine how.  I can't imagine not having any drive or ambition to accomplish anything, and having the desire to engage only in passive activities, always being a spectator, never acting.  Laziness, in many cases, leads to poor health, low self-esteem, lack of hope, and low self-confidence, among other things that I just don't see.  It also robs a person of a sense of accomplishment, a sense of self-worth, and self-development.  How are you going to learn anything or pick up a new skill or develop a talent if you're too lazy to get up and do something?

Many people are very harsh with lazy people, and I have to admit that my initial thoughts about laziness are usually rather judgmental.  I know, though, that many people who seem to be lazy are just picking a passive way of dealing with fears or insecurities or frustrations--people with learning disabilities, for example, often seem lazy because of the high levels of frustration they encounter when trying to accomplish "simple" tasks.  A person who's afraid of other people or of social situations may choose a passive approach to everything so that they won't have to take any risks.  A slow learner may prefer appearing lazy to appearing stupid--if I don't do the work at all, no one will criticize my performance.

In addition, many people suffer from diseases or illnesses, many undiagnosed, that may deprive them of energy and make it seem as if they're being lazy.  

People with lyme disease or iron deficiencies or any other such ailments may appear to be quite lazy, especially if they forego activities that their friends and families partake in.  These problems are especially troublesome if they're undiagnosed, for no one can see or know of a specific cause of a person's inactivity.

Of course, all of the possible causes (save the physiological) don't justify a life without accomplishment.  Nor does knowing that you're being lazy because of fear compensate for what you miss out on in life because of your unwillingness to act.  The key to dealing with laziness is taking action, and the key to taking action is finding the motivation to do so.  What do we do, though, when a person simply doesn't want to be motivated to do anything?  What do we do about the person at work who isn't willing to do his or her share of the current task?  What do we do about the student who doesn't do the homework because he or she prefers to lay around, talking on the cell phone or watching TV?

And how do we define "lazy"?

My definition most certainly would be different than yours.

Of course, the answers aren't simple.  Most people have heard the lectures and the begging and the pleading and the "it's your life--waste it in front of the tube if you want to" spiels, and there's not much more we can do.  Hopefully, we can be understanding enough to help them to see just what they're missing in life, and just how things could be if they were to change their patterns of behavior.  They're missing out on a lot in life, and many of them don't realize just what they're missing, because they've never experienced it.  How can we motivate them?  How can we show them just what their lives would be like if they were to take some risks, to act, to live their lives themselves rather than vicariously through entertainment media?

I don't know the answers to those questions, but I do know that if laziness is the determiner of your behavior, then you're missing out on much of what this beautiful world has to offer.  Please take your place in the world and be a positive influence to others.  Help to teach others of the beauty of living life and of being active in life, not the boredom and tedium of being lazy.

As a footnote, I must add that one of the greatest tragedies for me to witness is the effect of lazy parents on their children.  I've seen many children growing up slovenly and lazy because they've learned the patterns from their parents.  We need to be stronger role models to these kids than to some others--we need to let them see how much the world offers, and help them realize that they'll miss it all if they continue to emulate their parents.  It's difficult, but for their sake, it's necessary.

  

  

Lost time is never found again.

John Hill Aughey

Idleness is the holiday of fools.

Lord Chesterfield

  

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Laziness grows on people; it begins in
cobwebs and ends in iron chains.

M. Hale

  

Probably the most honest "self-made person" ever was the one we
heard say:  "I got to the top the hard way--fighting my
own laziness and ignorance every step of the way."

James Thom

  

 

So much attention is paid to the aggressive sins, such as violence and cruelty
and greed with all their tragic effects, that too little attention is paid to the
passive sins, such as apathy and laziness, which in the long run can have
a more devastating and destructive effect upon society than the others.

Eleanor Roosevelt

  

The path of least resistance makes all rivers, and some men, crooked.

Napoleon Hill

   
The present generation, wearied by its chimerical efforts, relapses into
complete indolence. Its condition is that of a man who has only fallen
asleep towards morning: first of all come great dreams, then a feeling
of laziness, and finally a witty or clever excuse for remaining in bed.

Søren Kierkegaard
   

Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled,
ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort.

Charles Dickens

    

The time will come when winter will ask
you what you were doing all summer.

Henry Clay

   
Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a lazy person.

Jimmy Lyons
   

All of the biggest technological inventions created by people--
the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about
our intelligence, but speaks volumes about our laziness.

Mark Kennedy

   

That destructive siren, sloth, is ever to be avoided.

Horace

   

   
We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.

Milton Friedman
   

You are only as lazy or lacking in willpower as you think you are.

Ken Christian

   

Laziness acknowledges the relation of the present to the past but ignores its
relation to the future; impatience acknowledge its relation to the future but
ignores its relation to the past; neither the lazy nor the impatient person,
that is, accepts the present instant in its full reality and so
cannot love his or her neighbour completely.

W.H. Auden

   

   
Failure is not our only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others.

Jules Renard
   

Idleness is a constant sin, and labor is a duty.  Idleness is the devil's home
for temptation and for unprofitable, distracting musings;
while labor profit others and ourselves.

Anne Baxter

   

Lazy people, whatever the talents with which they set out, will have
condemned themselves to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.

Cyril Connolly

   

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Idleness is the bane of body and mind, the muse of naughtiness,
the chief author of all mischief, one of the seven deadly sins.

Richard E. Burton
  

To be happy we must keep busy.  Idleness soon becomes dreary and
tiresome.  If you keep busy enough, you won't have time
to think and worry about yourself.

George Byron

  

Idleness is the rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.

Voltaire

   

   
The lazy, indolent, idle person cannot respect him- or herself, for there is
something inside of them that tells them that they are thieves, tells them
that it is unfair, cowardly, to expect that others will be the slave
of their desires, that they shall have all of the
good things of life and live in idleness,

Orison Swett Marden
The Joys of Living
   

         

Alone in his car heading west, it's easy for Jason
to feel sorry for himself and mad at the world.  But
then he gives a ride to Hector and learns that life
isn't nearly as negative as we sometimes see it,
and that the prejudice and discrimination that
he's experiencing aren't unique to him--and aren't
impossible to overcome.  The friendship between
this young man and his 70-year-old passenger is
an inspiring story of love and dealing with
obstacles in our lives.    
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