#360: The Importance of "Me" Time

The sun rises. The sun sets. We wake up. We go to sleep. Pretty boring routine if we think about. But it is what is in between those times that create the essence of our lives. Every day offers us 1,440 minutes, to do with as we please. So, what do we do with that time?

Perhaps several hours getting ready for work, getting the kids off to school, fixing breakfast and maybe lunch then another 30-60 minutes getting to work, 8 hours or so at work and another 30-60 minutes commute back home where it's fix dinner, take care of the children, etc. Some days there's laundry and ironing to do and yard work, house cleaning, grocery shopping, children's activities, adult classes and so on.

Doesn't seem to leave much time for private relaxation and contemplation, does it? How many of us have had or wished we had a day or a week at the beach or in the mountains, somewhere we could just do nothing but take it easy with no chores and no responsibilities?

But even if we tore ourselves away from the computer and the cell phone, the TV and newspapers and radio, what would we really do? Think about bills? How the pets were doing in boarding care? What the teenagers were up to back home? The work piling up?

It's tough to shut the mind down and close it off to external concerns, isn't it?

However, it is important for our mental and emotional health that we set aside a time to do exactly that, a time for contemplation, just as we schedule other activities. It needn't be a long time. Ten minutes or more if we can spare it. Time when no one bothers us and we can let the mind relax and wander. Maybe it's in the bathtub or hot tub or pool or sitting quietly in a park or alongside a lake. But a place to be alone with our thoughts. A place where we can release our stress of the day.

Ten minutes out of 1,440. Not a large commitment. But time that can be invaluable to our well being. Try to find that private "me" time. After a while of fitting it into your schedule, you will look forward to the serenity and peacefulness you experience. And you will likely discover less stress and a happier outlook. This is time we need for ourselves. Time we deserve, don't we?