| The infinite revolution of the wheel of life continues | | | | fragrance of flowers and the tenderness of the |
| and man moves along with it, continuously being | | | | garden grass. The time spent with the near and dear |
| under enormous stress. He constantly longs for | | | | ones a game of football in the backyard may well |
| moments when he can leave his mind to roam free in | | | | soothe the nerves of the mind. Diving into the |
| the corridors of relaxation. The onuses beckon him | | | | depths of music and coming out humming the |
| and wherever he goes anxiety chases him. There is | | | | favorite tune instead of the usual curse for work |
| no respite whatsoever for him form his obligations. | | | | might be the change one just needs. The utmost |
| The necessity of leisure becomes imminent and | | | | pleasure that is attained by not doing something |
| comes as a breather in the choking atmosphere of | | | | which is a compulsion but what the heart itself |
| worries. | | | | yearns to do is the essence of leisure. It helps in |
| Stevenson wrote an essay "An Apology for Idlers' in | | | | recuperation as well as in increasing the sphere and |
| which he ridicules the Victorian emphasis on too much | | | | variety of activities. The new lease of enthusiasm |
| work and too much craze for money making. Ruskin | | | | obtained after the concurrent periods of leisure after |
| says that the commonest fact about our lives is, | | | | the concurrent periods of leisure helps in the better |
| whatever we have, to have something else; ad | | | | implementation of both physical and mental efforts in |
| wherever we are, to go somewhere else. Civilization | | | | completing the mandatory routines. |
| seems to be on the verge of nervous breakdown. | | | | The leisure periods should be intermittent to those of |
| Something like and evil and an invisible driving force | | | | work and when the reverse becomes operative then |
| have robbed life of all rest and relaxation. Even when | | | | such rest becomes burdening. A poem of Tennyson |
| we are not physically overworked we are mentally | | | | pictures an island where people do not work and are |
| so. It has robbed life of all its equipoise and | | | | continuously resting. They are known as 'Lotus |
| equilibrium. Serenity and harmony are no more in life | | | | Eaters'. To those who know work as the pith of life |
| and taking our time to stand and star is required. | | | | these 'Lotus Eaters' are not at all enviable. A idle mind |
| Whenever we find someone in mental dilemma he is | | | | and an idle body are a devil's workshop. Unnecessary |
| advised to take a holiday to regroup his energy and | | | | gossips, interference with others' affairs, drinking and |
| start with a new vigor. There is no escaping work | | | | even addictions afflict such idle minds. Leisure, if being |
| but the idea of getting obsessed with it shows its | | | | used an excuse for endurance, results in proliferation |
| futility. The leisure hours need not be spent in vain as | | | | of vagrants and mendicants who corrode at the very |
| T.S. Eliot has rightly remarked about the longevity of | | | | principle of 'Work is Worship'. |
| being as "I have measured out my life with coffee | | | | The substance of perceiving the enigma of spending |
| spoons" but in pursuing all those interests that man | | | | the leisure time lies in eliminating tediousness and |
| has always craved fro. Some might find solace in | | | | enjoying life rather than living it for the sake of it. |
| holidaying, being in song with nature, arms and legs | | | | The forethought requires utilizing the free time as a |
| spread with sun beating down hard but with noting | | | | balm on the aching head as well as using the head for |
| to worry about. | | | | a positive outcome rather than letting it get diverted |
| When the leisure 'valley' is short, one might get | | | | towards the wrong side of the coin. |
| engrossed in a volume of fiction or be among the | | | | |