Taking Time for You

I’m up early this morning. It feels good to wake up before the rest of the family sometimes. Especially when it’s not for work, or an appointment or any other reason that might cause me to stumble sleepy-eyed into the shower, pour half a gallon of coffee down my throat and climb into the car. I can just relax, look out the window at the burgeoning daylight, maybe put Sportscenter on (a rarity in my house), and basically make time for me.

Making time for oneself is one thing I find so many people deny themselves. They’ll fill their schedule with work, errands, and chores. They’ll even spend their downtime playing with the kids, golfing with friends, shopping with their girlfriend, but not making any time for themselves. Don’t get me wrong, these are all crucially important things in your life: a career, friends family are the cornerstones of a happy life, but the center of all that is the person you look at in the mirror every day.

Without making time for yourself, to think about your future, your past, some of the things that make you the special person you are, can leave you missing something. Taking time to do the things you enjoy exclusively, basking in your own company, even conversing with oneself, these are some of the best gifts you can give yourself.

If you only make time for work, your friends, your family, what then is left for you? How do you learn about yourself? How do you discover who you are? How do you free your mind up to see where you are going in life, and whether you even want to take that direction?

Of course I’m not asking anybody to be a loner. As I said, filling your life with as much positivity as possible, with as many people and passions as you can is what makes a life. But every now and then we need to reflect on whether we have the right people, or if our passions are really just responsibilities and chores that we do because, well, it’s what we do.

I urge you all to take 20 – 30 minutes a day, and give it to yourself, be it your lunch break, a coffee before work (in a soft chair, not behind the wheel), or a short evening walk alone. You’ll be amazed at how clear-minded and happier you feel afterwards.

So, what are you still on the internet for? Chop chop... ;-)