My friend Donna DeRosa wrote a blog post that touched my heart. It’s called The Magic If. She explains how “If” is a magical word, full of possibilities. She started me thinking.
My days are usually rushed. I run from one task to another. So much Alegna Soap business to attend to, I have a “to-do” list that never ends. To be fair, we all are busy. But what if we weren’t? Can I make the time to do the things I wanted? What if we gave ourselves 20 minutes a day to pretend we have nothing to do? I decided to challenge myself and find out.
My 20 minutes
I used the first 20 minutes after I got out of bed. I didn’t wake up early to do try this, I wanted to see if taking 20 minutes away from my usual day would impact the work I had to get done. My to-do list last night was written, so I would be ready when the timer went off.
I made myself some tea and went into my backyard. Sitting in a lawn chair, I thought about when my kids were younger and how they loved to play in the yard. In the summer I’d give them a bucket of water and a paintbrush and they painted the house. Kept them occupied for hours. So did filling up old ketchup and mustard bottles with water and having water fights.
Back then we had a pool in the yard. Sometimes my girlfriends come over and we’d sit and watch all of our kids playing. I made some really good friends through my children. While my mind wandered I could hear the birds and watch them flying around. The squirrels were running on my fence too.
One time in the winter, Brian found a squirrel frozen to the metal drain in the street. We rigged up my blow dryer with 2 extension cords to free him. Brian named him Rocky as he was working. That act defines my husband. He’s such a good soul, he couldn’t let even a squirrel suffer. We ended up taking Rocky to the vet and he didn’t make it.
Ding…
My timer went off, breaking off my day dreaming. I didn’t get up right away though, I eased my way back to reality. Enjoying my trek down memory lane, I remembered how much love is in my life as I went back to work. At the end of the day I can say that yes, my work was impacted by the 20 minutes I took to do nothing. I was happier, calmer and was able to accomplish more than usual.
What if you had 20 minutes with nothing to do? What would you do?
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela