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Some days, it’s best to put everything in perspective by doing absolutely nothing.

I’m not going to sugarcoat things: Life has a way of adding weight when the act of living in a crazy world is heavy already.

Around every corner there seems to be some stress or anxiety shadowing just about everything. There’s nothing for it. That’s life. Challenges and complications come with just about every act we are faced with through each and every day. Some days are better than others while the reverse is applicable as well. Some days are worse than others.

I had a lot planned for this past weekend and was already coming off a couple weeks that weren’t — easy. There was plenty of the aforementioned stress and anxiety and as we progress through the rest of the year I’m sure there will be more that complicates matters.

We won’t talk about 2025. That will likely be its own animal complete onto itself.

At any rate, Saturday was filled with normal Saturday things. Laundry day mostly, but I also had plans to tear into the kitchen as we began preparing the house for Thanksgiving, but I found that as the day progressed and I had to take care of other things, it just seemed easier to hold off for a day and use Sunday morning for such a task.

Therefore, I woke up Sunday with all sorts of intent to go after said kitchen, which more often than not tends to be my domain anyway.

Everything received the cleaning touch, including the oven that probably just needs to be replaced, but we’ll worry about that another day.

Three hours for a relatively small room seemed like a bit much, but it got taken care of nonetheless, without anything breaking which is a pretty big accomplishment. A glass or something usually becomes a victim to the greater good of a shiny kitchen, but not this year.

However, by the time I was done, I realized that it might be worthwhile taking the afternoon and just slowing down.

It’s something that we just don’t do that much these days. It’s said often by plenty of talking heads to do just that, but the act of hitting the off ramp and actually partaking in the task of slowing down can be more difficult than planned. Easier said than done is the phrase that is the most notable response.

So I did just that. I wasn’t really committed to the entire Vikings game, but it was ample incentive to hit the couch, bury myself under a blanket and just let the distraction take over.

To be honest, I don’t entirely remember a lot of the game. I dosed some, but more than most I just watched the movement on the screen with very little of note reaching my inner memory.

I began thinking about the other things I had to do and almost determined that I would give up on the second half, but I took the lead of what the afternoon had already offered and remained on the couch and that’s when I was given even more incentive.

If I lay on the couch at any given time and use a blanket, it is 100% that at some point (sooner rather than later) Nemi will end up between my legs. Every time I do that you can see the wheels rolling in her head as she knows what’s coming.

What I didn’t expect was not long after she set up shop, then Buster decided he wanted to join the party, somehow wedging his large form into a small crook next to my hip and there the three of us lay the rest of the afternoon.

The two cats were oblivious to the observations of the world and I was simply content, having achieved the goal of slowing down.

It’s these moments that I cherish. Getting us out of the house from time to time, putting some headphones on and listening to music and laying unmoving on the couch with two contented cats.

The world will continue to be a challenge and a lot of it will be absolutely no fun at all. Stress and anxiety will both be there, but with someone special in your life and two cats by your side, life is pretty good.