The Best Way to Give Ourselves Permission

We all know there are only twenty-four hours in a day, so we pack in what we can to maximize our lives. I talk to lots of people who struggle with relaxing, downtime or even feeling idle. They think that time is of the essence, and ALL time must be used to their best ability to leverage and build the life they want. The challenge is that we can only go full throttle for so long before we breakdown or crash and burn.

I read this quote and was reminded that the word ‘idle’ does not have a negative connotation unless we apply it. Being idle is not bad, it is wise. Being able to change our thought process and realize that idleness means freedom to do whatever we want allows us to see time spent thinking, dreaming, resting or doing nothing as productive time. Too many of us believe that quiet or idle time is wasted, and that’s too bad.

I spent time this weekend sitting on our front porch just looking at the trees. It began to rain and the soft sound of raindrops falling lulled me into a state of quiet relaxation. Before I knew it thirty minutes had passed and I was completely relaxed. I went back inside with a completely different state of mind. I was refreshed, renewed and better equipped to handle all that crossed my path. Instead of being wound up I was calm and at peace. Time wasted, says who?

We need to decide for ourselves how we want to utilize our time AND how what we do with time really impacts all the areas of our life. Sounds simple until the phone rings or our email message arrival sound trumpets for us to get busy. We do not have to be victims of a mad, mad, mad world of every thing tugging at our thoughts. We have the ability to choose how we want to spend our precious hours even if it means doing less and as a result being able to handle more. If we truly believe that anything is possible, then a little idle time to refresh and think is the best way to give ourselves permission to actually do anything we want.