Filter Coffee #169

On A Change Is As Good as a Rest

My post, FC 168, on the midlife crisis was welcomed by many. A tongue-in-cheek comment made by a friend was “A crisis about what to write may have prompted you to write on midlife crisis.”

• Niharika says: “Mid-life is like the half year. But we cannot ignore the third and the fourth quarters when a crisis could deepen with diminished ability to deal with it. One could write reams on that.”
  I agree, Niharika. For instance, the decision to put one’s parent in an old age home may well be a midlife crisis for the son or daughter, but it is indeed a third or fourth-quarter crisis for the parent.

• Mr. N Swaminathan says: “Crisis or difficulties are inseparable and inalienable parts of human life. It is to remind us that there is someone above us always ready to help us in crisis, the only thing we have to do is to remember him and call him with a pure heart and mind. Even Gods are not alien to crisis or danger. Whenever Gods have taken human form, they have also witnessed suffering and faced crisis.”

😴 A Change Is As Good as a Rest

Without exception, each one of us recognises that change is constant. But most of us, and that includes me, constantly resist change. We are victims of our habits, routines and some obsessions too. Can ‘change’, as in this idiom, mean that we ought to take a break from what we do for most of our day or for that matter our life?

The Oxford Dictionary explains this idiom to mean: “A change of work or occupation can be as restorative or refreshing as a period of relaxation.” Interestingly. The import of the idiom is not about taking leave and going on vacation or taking a nap after working hard. It is about disengaging from what you regularly do and finding something relaxing or meaningful that is restful. You might have been told by someone many times on different occasions to ‘take a break’. When I was a student I yearned to hear those words but sigh!

Now, in this World Cup season, most of us are glued to the TV from afternoon till late night, and I am no exception. My wife peeps in now and then and says ‘What’s this binge-watching? Take a break.’ What I longed to hear as a student I get to hear from her as if it is something of a power play. I must credit her with some kindness, because if it is a match that India is playing, she tells me to take a break at each drink interval and mobilise my joints — not just sit there and listen to a couple of guys telling me what I have already seen.

Ah! Yes, she detests my watching the highlights of a match that India won after having sat through the entire live telecast of the match. It is another matter that she is looking for rest from her chores and wants to see a serial on the big screen. 

A poem by the title A Change Is As Good As A Rest was published in the Hampshire Advertiser in England on 29 August 1857. It was by an unnamed author and has nine verses. The last verse of the poem states that it is specifically trying to popularise the phrase. It reads:

Mark I then, fellow mortals around,

All ye who would wish to be blest,

Much wisdom in this simple phrase may be found -

A change is as good as a rest.

The poem has a verse that can be aimed at advising today’s couch potatoes or binge watchers. Way back in 1857 some people were lazy, slept or sat around most of the time.

This verse which applies to binge-watchers of today, makes it clear:

Ye votaries of sofas and beds

Ye sloths who exertion detest,

This maxim I wish to drive into your heads -

A change is as good as a rest.

Children who are blessed and born into wealthy families tend to take everything for granted or may feel entitled to everything. They hardly make an effort to make any valuable contribution but instead, feed on what is in the family treasure chest. Asking them to shed their laziness before it ruins their health, the poem says:

Ye children of Fashion and Wealth,

With countless indulgences blest,

Remember that indolence preyeth on health -

A change is as good as a rest.

Some people struggle to make ends meet, and they toil hard, rain or shine. They, too, deserve a change that can help them rest. Like a farmer working all through the week puts up his feet and recharges his batteries on a Sunday. That’s a change from his routine leading to rest. The poem bemoans that the sons of soil hardly can change or rest and articulates thus:

Ye sturdy old sons of the soil,

Who work through the day with such zest,

'Tis little ye have beside labour and toil;

But little of change or of rest.

I have said many times that I hardly enjoyed my own children’s childhood. We must find time to get involved in what our kids do. In the USA, parents make sure one of them is present when there’s a game or an event to encourage their ward.

The poem written in 1857 foresaw this as a duty and this verse is testimony to that:

That merchant gets up with the lark,

His duties are aught but a jest;

These over, he rides with his son in the park -

A change is as good as a rest.

I spoke earlier about my wife. She is multi-skilled and can knit as well. She runs the kitchen efficiently and cooks a variety of dishes across cuisines. She rests as she knits, as a change from her routine. The poet recognised this in 1857 and wrote:

My wife, in the kitchen below,

For dinner provideth her best,

Then crochets a nightcap for "dear little Flo" -

A change is as good as a rest.

Taking a break from anything that you may be doing is a well-known fact. But this idiom is not just about taking a break from what you do but doing something else that gives you a sense of relief. The concept of sabbatical is a good example. It is a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked. 

Now to end in a lighter vein:

Two men were standing around and taking a break in their soon-to-be new store.

As yet, the store wasn't ready and didn't even have the shelves set up.

A curious old man walked to the window, had a peek, and in a soft voice asked,

“Vat ya sellin' here?”

One of the men replied sarcastically, “We're selling idiots.”

Without skipping a beat, the old man answered, “Must be doing well, only two left” !!!

Dentist.:- how did you manage to break these three teeth?

Man:- my wife baked something too hard and strange-looking.

Dentist.:- you could have refused to eat it

Man:- that's exactly how this happened…

Okay, guys! I hope you found reading this post restful and a change from what you were doing 🙂
Take care and be safe. See you next week, Ciao.