Five Minutes

I've been consciously working on the notion that just because work is busy doesn't mean life is over.  It doesn't mean all waking moments need to go into being always perfectly organized and ready for the next day or the next few days or the next week.  It doesn't mean all energy is put into calendars and to-do lists.  It doesn't mean that family, friends, the sunshine, and activities can not still be enjoyed.

It just means they get enjoyed in the brief moments of in between.  

The trick for me is to force my brain into a spot where it's not thinking about the next but rather is right in the now.  

Right in the putting old tennies on and going off roading in a coulee for a run.  Right in the reading of a deep and crafty book in the sunshine.  Right in the coffee while wrapped in a sweater on the patio.  

Whether the laundry is all done or the house is clean or the bags are packed or the driveway is swept and the patio table is washed.  

I'm consciously putting the wheels in motion to have a balance.  A balance that sometimes leans towards the fun stuff and one that other times tips toward work without ever swaying completely to drop like a dead weight into the land of life is now over.  

Brittany and I were visiting in the car the other day and this very idea came up.  Soon our arms were flying and heads were nodding and we were mmmmhhhmmm-ing right along with each other.  We can mmmmhhhmmm with the best of them.  It's funny how friends sometimes do that - are in the same spot without even knowing it.  

Life is short.  It's meant to be utterly enjoyed amidst all the responsibilities.  Even if it's five minutes.  Those five minutes will add years back on later.