The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
Bertrand Russell
Last weekend, my husband and I took our kids away on a short vacation. It was nice to get away from the lingering New England cold and escape to the tropical beaches of San Juan. One day, the kids decided to build a sand castle. They wanted to build a drip castle, and settled on the wet sand near the water. We watched as they started building their structure and a wave proceeded to knock it down. Undeterred, they kept piling on the sand, just to have it washed up by wave after wave.
The productivity/efficiency side of me really wanted to go over to them and have them move their sand base a couple of feet back so it wouldn’t get knocked down again. But I held myself back (maybe with some encouragement from my husband) and watched them. They were having a blast! Every time a wave destroyed their creation, they would erupt in fists of giggles and proceed to start over, trying to move faster and faster in order to beat the next wave. There was no sign of frustration at all. Just the pure joy and bliss of being in the moment and thoroughly enjoying what they were doing.
Could they have found a more efficient way to build their castle? Definitely! But to them, the outcome didn’t matter as much as the process. Their goal was to have fun and enjoy the sun and beach, not to build the best sand castle. And in the process, they proceeded to remind me that wasted time is not always time wasted.
