Finding Time

I am late putting up this post for a number of reasons but the main one is time.  Today was one of those days that I was running from 7am until 4:30pm.  I had enough time to relax long enough to write this post and do the two challenges that I have done.  After that, it is running to a few chores, dinner and the like.  I am probably going to be slipping into the pool sometime after 8pm but that is okay, I am going to need the water.

But that comes to finding time.  Let's face it.  Many people don't have the time to work out or pursue an activity that they enjoy.  There is always work, errands, chores, family and if we are lucky, we tumble into bed for a few short hours.  I often find myself saying, I don't have the time, but the reality is that I do if I actually look for it.

When it comes to taking care of myself, both physically and spiritually (which includes mentally, emotionally and socially), it is easier to go to the stand by of tomorrow.  Today is for everyone else...I promise, tomorrow will be for me.  But the truth is, there never is a tomorrow.  It is always today and today is just too busy for little ol' me.

One thing that I had to do was to buckle down and repeat, "I am worth a few minutes."  Those few minutes are being spent on exercise but I am building up those few minutes to a half hour and then maybe an hour...heck, I could probably give myself a few extra hours a week that I wouldn't normally give myself.

How do I find those minutes now?

It really is difficult.  Trust me, old habits die hard but I have found them during my lunch hour where I would spend it doing things for others.  I have found it in the minutes that I waste checking my emails for the hundredth time or surfing facebook.  I find the minutes when I say, "Maybe tonight I won't fold the laundry or maybe tonight we will have cereal for dinner so I don't have to spend an hour making it."  I sneak in the minutes when I am waiting for water to boil while I make dinner or for something to finish cooking.

Finding time isn't about just exercising, it is about rediscovering the things that I used to enjoy doing such as devouring an entire novel in one day.  If I sit down and read while my husband takes the kids fishing, the world is not going to end.  My kids won't have bad memories of their mom not coming on a fishing trip one time when she goes 99 other times.  Finding time is more about giving myself a pass every once and a while and it is something that I recommend everyone do.

Find the time by looking at your daily habits and cutting out those time wasting habits.  Give yourself a break if you can't do everything in a day but make sure you take twenty minutes...and not twenty minutes where you are hiding in the bathroom.  Do something you enjoy and if your family can do it with you, all the better.  I know my kids love being in the woods as much as I do...they love learning as much as I do so it gives me plenty of opportunities to do something for myself while still spending time with them.

And that is about all the time I have today.  I finished day 5 of the challenges and feel sore. I was going to not do it since I had such little time but I fit it in...I fit me in and it is important that you fit yourself into your day as well.

Photo credit: © Sherry Tetens Long | Dreamstime Stock Photos