Meditation is an important part of my day (non negotiable) .. because I know how important it is for me to sit and rest in that deep inner stillness.
But sometimes in real life (the day to day operational stuff) I forget the importance of open space and no commitments. I push aside the fun stuff in the mistaken belief that I have more important 'work' stuff. Yet sharing my time with family and fun activities, a concert or yoga class or walk with the dog along the beach, is important life balancing stuff.
I realised a few weeks ago that TIME was racing past and my daughter growing up. That if I didn’t make the effort now to enjoy her company .. well, I may well miss the chance. That thought made me so, so sad.
So. I jumped online and booked us tickets to Slava’s Snowshow. It took only a few minutes tand I got great seats. I was instantly all happy and excited .. and having decided to keep it a secret for the week, only added to my excitement. When I finally told my daughter .. we both got to share the excitement. And. The whole night was brilliant. But making the arrangements and enjoying the build up and excitement of what was to come .. was priceless (as the ad says).
Remember how I raved about the "My 15 Minutes" program? Well last week Emma shared a little challenge .. the kind we will enjoy as part of the program (which starts 2 September).
FRIDAY CHALLENGE:
Go through your diary now and block out NINE hours of personal white space (whichever way you wish to cut it, all at once or in chunks) over the next three weeks.
RULES:
- No excuses allowed (eg. "I can't, I'm fully booked, people depend on me, I'm a mum, I work, I have a sick family member...". Each of those excuses applies in my life too, but if I fall over from exhaustion, everything else will topple like dominoes.)
- Don't squeeze the white space in later than you would normally go to bed or earlier than you would usually get up unless you already get too much sleep.
- If there's 'no time', postpone or cancel something less important that's currently disguised as 'more important'.
- If there's 'nobody else' - find someone. Be brave and ask for help - people are generally good. Cast your 'helpers' net wider than you have before, even if this means learning to let go of some control and increasing trust.
- Look for nooks and crannies of time (eg. now that Offspring has finished, I've just found three hours in the next three weeks already, so that's going to be 'soak in the bath with candles and a book' time. Another example is taking 10 minutes during the working day to sit outside in the sun, breathing, having a cup of tea and people watching in silence.)
- If this feels uncomfortable, it's even more important to do it.
- Once you've scheduled the time, get back to your busy day safe in the knowledge that there's white space on the horizon.
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