I’ve been thinking about ways to make my days meaningful, every day, not just occasionally. I find so often we walk around being busy- get up, pour coffee down to wake up, exercise, get the kids going, go to work, come home, grab a kid for an activity, feed kids, put to bed, pass out.
Repeat.
We all do this, with a variation on a theme. This is why I’m so jealous of people who come back all tan from vacation. It’s not the tan (ok, mostly not the tan, but I’m pretty white so there may be jealousy there)
No, I’m mostly jealous because I can smell the freedom on them. It’s a funny thing- the look of relaxation on people’s faces when they come home. Even when the kids were awful or they lost their luggage or whatever, they come home less tight. It’s in he face and shoulders mostly, but everyone can smell the freedom on them.
Now, I doubt I’ll be going on vacation anytime soon- 3 kids in car seats do not travel well unless in our own mini van (with a glorious DVD player. Sometimes we drive around so they are contained and quiet, I kid you not), but I want to have that feeling of relaxation at least at some part of the day.
So, inspired by another smart person I’ve been reading lately, I’m going to focus on doing things for just ten minutes a day. Things that make me take a deep relaxing sigh and help recharge me.
These things include- exercise, writing, reflecting, and talking to people around me. I want to add reading in but I’m probably going to run out of time, and I don’t want this to be more stressful.
For the month of April, that means I’m going to write on my novel 10 minutes a day, write here for 10 minutes as part of my reflecting, and try to stay in touch with friends and family better. (I’m already doing the exercise, see how I’m cheating? Success!!)
Think about your own life and what you would like to accomplish. Ten minutes a day doesn’t seem like much but it adds up- 300 minutes in a month could be the difference to not only accomplishing something but also feeling like you just got back from a beach vacation. (I hope)
Let the ten minutes a day begin!