One gift that Rick and I gave ourselves this past week was the gift of time - and as all of us who work full time and have full time lives know, that's a gift you have to take. "Down times" like the days between Christmas and New Year often bring young and middle age adults to the realization that their time is not their own most days. I know that's true of me - on a typical weeknight, I'm lucky if I have 1.5-2 hours to call "my own" at the end of the day. I hear others say much the same.
Not that we've been snarky about our week off. We're grateful for the blessing and have treasured every moment of it - plus, we did prioritize. We spent four days celebrating Christmas with family, which we were happy to do, before even taking time for ourselves and each other (and the birds). It's been wonderful to have a week where the only priorities are the things we chose to set as priorities, whether it was doing things postponed too long in our normal day-to-day hustle, or taking time out to relax and enjoy the precious gift of being able to do what we want, when we want. I see now why some retired people get sassy about it. There's something liberating and joyful in the "hang your expectations, it's MY time and I'll spend it as I please!" lifestyle.
Of course, it's temporary, which is what makes it special. It's like I told somebody last week about the disappointment of taking down the Christmas decorations: if we left them up all the time, it wouldn't be special anymore. Likewise, stretches of time away from the day-to-day routine of necessity and expectation are special because those are moments that we usually have to take from a full schedule. Having it just there without strings attached is an awesome gift.
I hope you've had time to relax and enjoy a break from your routine this holiday season. Yes, spending time with family and others is a gift - but so is time to yourself.
That's all today. Take care, and have a wonderful weekend.
Bye!
Not that we've been snarky about our week off. We're grateful for the blessing and have treasured every moment of it - plus, we did prioritize. We spent four days celebrating Christmas with family, which we were happy to do, before even taking time for ourselves and each other (and the birds). It's been wonderful to have a week where the only priorities are the things we chose to set as priorities, whether it was doing things postponed too long in our normal day-to-day hustle, or taking time out to relax and enjoy the precious gift of being able to do what we want, when we want. I see now why some retired people get sassy about it. There's something liberating and joyful in the "hang your expectations, it's MY time and I'll spend it as I please!" lifestyle.
Of course, it's temporary, which is what makes it special. It's like I told somebody last week about the disappointment of taking down the Christmas decorations: if we left them up all the time, it wouldn't be special anymore. Likewise, stretches of time away from the day-to-day routine of necessity and expectation are special because those are moments that we usually have to take from a full schedule. Having it just there without strings attached is an awesome gift.
I hope you've had time to relax and enjoy a break from your routine this holiday season. Yes, spending time with family and others is a gift - but so is time to yourself.
That's all today. Take care, and have a wonderful weekend.
Bye!
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