MENTAL LOAFING | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 10, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 10.

MENTAL LOAFING.

It is considered a disgrace to be lazy. He who is too indolent to work for his own living becomes a by-word and a reproach. But there is a very common form of laziness which is not always noticed; it is that of the mind. We first become conscious of it in our young days when we "don't feel like study." We dawdle over the book with our thoughts half asleep, and as a result give a fine exhibition of stupidity in the recitation room. This sort of indolence in youth is very dangerous, for it becomes a habit, and the mind grows rusty and dull in the very prime of life, when it should be at its best.

On the heels of this form of laziness comes another bad habit—that of intellectual loafing. What loafing is in the common sense we all know: it is hanging about with no definite aim or purpose, idling away the time without method and without profit. Well, there is a mental loafing as well, and it is known in the dictionary as “reverie.” It is a dreamy state of mind, when the thoughts go wool-gathering. This habit, so common to young people, is fatal to mental growth; many a promising youth is ruined by over-indulgence in it. It wastes time and enfeebles the mental powers. It is really a form of laziness, and it should be corrected at the very outset. The action of the mind should be kept under control. When the thoughts begin to wander, it is time to whip them into order. A resolute will will do it.—Baptist Weekly.