During a break in my teaching schedule the other day, I felt particularly weighed down with all the things I had "to do". For some reason, though, instead of starting to do some of these tasks, I just stood at a window in my classroom and looked outside. I guess I must have stood there for a good 10 minutes, very quietly, almost motionless, just watching and listening. It wasn't long before I realized that the universe was doing plenty of things, all with no help from me. Melting snow was dripping from the eaves, the leaves in bushes were shaking in a breeze, children were coming down the walkway, and far off, an airplane was humming along to somewhere -- and I was of no help at all. Not only that, my heart was beating, my lungs were operating quite well, and I guess most of the zillion cells in my body were efficiently doing the zillion tasks that they're supposed to do -- and I was simply standing and doing nothing. I was of no help. I wasn't needed. It was clear that the universe was taking good care of itself.

When I returned to my desk to begin one of my tasks, I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face.